There's A Class For This
by TatersAndTots
Summary: After Namine moves from the small seaside town Morrowind where she and her best friend Kairi lived, they use e-mails to correspond with each other and fill each other in on the important and not so important details of their lives. Teen for language
1. Take 1

**Take O N E**

from**Namine Strife**

dateFeb 21, 2009 10:15 AM

subjectI cannot believe my situation…..

To my lovely and dearest Kairi,

You cannot begin to understand my anger right now. Sitting in the back of a cramped up trunk is NOT what I had in mind when moving. Cloud's feet are all squished into my legs and it hurts, dammit.

Yes, Spikey. I am talking about you. Be a good boy and turn away. That's right--good Cloud.

Anyways, the 'rents are delusional. They are screaming the lyrics to 'Circus' while trying to drive and fool with the map. Now, I'm not typically one to mock my parent's intellect, but they are seriously on the far side of sane right about now.

......Holy crap, I think we just hit a man. Hold on.

And I'm back. Apparently, the old man was a crazed farmer who thought our car was one of his runaway cows. I mean, I know the trunk is white with chipping paint, but a COW? Really now?

But the man is alright. He just hit our windshield is all. I mean, he must have bones of steel or something; you know those crazy 'ol men.

Speaking of crazy old men, I left you some of that gum you like so much under the desk in Mr. Leonhart's class. I know how much you like to drool over him, Kairi dear, but I've told you a million times before--make sure he doesn't see it.

Oh, and Cloud says hello and he wants you to tell Tifa he said hi. Haha, he is such a sap for your sister. ...Or her boobs. I haven't established which one it is, yet.

.......Cloud hit me. ABUSE. CHILD ABUSE!

D'oh, the 'rents are singing the Spice Girls now. Kairi, please, smuggle me into your closet? I don't want to move away. At all. I swear, I'll be quiet and I won't borrow your shoes /that often/.

I love you!

Your amazing cheeka,

Namine.

from**Kairi Lockheart**

toNamine Strife

dateFeb 21, 2009 10:33 AM

subject Urgles…

My beautiful Nami,

I'm still sitting here, shaking with laughter. Although I'm still pissed at your parents for moving you away from me and even more mad that my mom won't let me move with you.

Whilst we are still on the subject of insane parents... my mother is currently attempting to cook. It smells really bad and dangerous and it's giving me a headache. I think I might have to become sick right before dinner. Seriously... my mother is a menace in the kitchen.  
Aw! I feel bad for your brother... Tifa's out on a date. And not with the guy from last week. Or the week before that. Or the week before that. Once again, it's a new guy. I don't approve of this one, he smells like cigarettes and his grin is crooked. If I knew that Tifa wasn't sleeping around, I'd seriously be calling her a slut. Remember when we were little and we wanted our older siblings to get married so we'd be sisters?  
Stupid Tifa. SO. CLOSE.

GUMMM :D I can't wait to find it Monday! Ugh... school without you. That's really really going to suck. I sure hope there are some cute boys on the other side of the island for you ;D You need to meet some. (:

Oh my god... I smell smoke. BRB.

..yeah. So my mother. Set the green beans. On fire.  
How the hell do you do that?! I swear that woman can't even make soup with boiled water and a Cup-A-Soup package.

-imagines you and Cloud squished together in the backseat- LMAO. In your '93 Chevy. XD That car is tiny. And your dad needs to get it a new paint job. Like. Seriously. XD  
Has Cloud grown any since I last saw him? All of Tifa's dates have been six feet or taller.  
...Is he reading this? I'm mean. So mean. XD

Speaking of which... Tifa just came back from her date. Uhm, he's trying to talk to her from outside. And she looks pissed. And I think her shirt's a bit messed up. -cough- She needs a breast reduction. Those things are screaming to be looked at.

I HEART YOU 3  
Your Kai.

from**Namine Strife**

toKairi Lockheart

dateFeb 21, 2009 10:15 AM

subjectAnd my Daddy said 'Stay away from Juliet'

To the Girl with Ginger Hair,

Yes, you read my title correctly--my father pulled us over at the local drug store and stumbled upon the Taylor Swift CD. So now I am stuck listening to how she lost her boyfriend in every single track.

Cooking? Holy crap, your madre hasn't taken her meds today, has she? I've told her that cooking isn't her forte; your mom should listen to me.

And Cloud just gave me the sadden emo eyes once he read this email. ...Yes, Cloud you are emo. He's protesting he isn't, but why is it that my eyeliner disappears all the time? I mean, hell-oh. I'm not stupid, contrary to popular belief. Oh, speaking of the Spikey Chocobo, remember that one time we slumbered him in eighth grade? That was the bomb. And uh, duh. Cloud hasn't grown one bit. I think he's forever doomed to the height of 5'7. God, I can't wait to pass him up and laugh. xD And is she wearing the whorish pink shirt? Y'know, the one that looks like it's ready to pop? 'Cause if she is, Cloud wants pictures. .......HEY, DON'T HIT ME.

Oh! And I heard that this city is the hometown of the Keybladers. Y'know, the band with the really hott guys in it? -Insert mega droolz hurrr-

Hunny, Tifa is a slut. She has another date, like, every week. I, on the other hand, have only been asked out ONCE by Wakka. And, well, we all know how that date turned out. He STILL barfs at the sight of chocolate pudding. I mean, how was I supposed to know that my bandaid had accidentally slipped into his dessert? Like, seriously, it isn't like I'm constantly looking at my fingers! -Continues rant-

God, Kai, I miss you. Well, I know I'll see you soon and all, but I have to wait eight months or so. -Flails- Imagine how many pieces of art I can complete in eight months. xD

Bah, I must depart now, my darling. Father dearest has announced we are three hours from our house, and it's time for a nap.

Much love,

Nami.

from**Kairi Lockheart**

toNamine Strife

dateFeb 21, 2009 12:53 PM

subject Btch plz?

Namiiiii 3 :D

Late reply, because I had to be sisterly and listen to the rant of how all men are lowlifes and that my sister is seriously considering lesbianism.  
"What happened this time..." I sighed. (And yes. She was wearing that whorey pink shirt. I can tell you exactly which bra she is wearing today.) She was in the garage, punching the punching bag. I wish I was Tifa sometimes. You know. Minus the boobs and such.  
"Men!" she snorted, and I concluded this particular one had tried to touch her in ways only married people should.  
After pretending to listen to her long lecture of how men are awful and should be exterminated from the face of the earth, I casually suggested, "You know... Cloud Strife is single."  
And you know what she did? (Send Cloud out of view for this!) She LAUGHED. Like... LAUGHTER. Then she continued her martial arts crap. I feel so bad for your brother! XD

KEYBLADERSSS -drools- Oh my god. You /have/ to get us tickets. Like... whenever they play. It should be illegal to be hot AND be able to sing AND play guitar.

-smacks PC- I wish we could get a new one. I think this one's older than my mother. o.0 And Teef cooked me food. Yumm.

XD Yes, I remember that. Poor you. Poor Wakka! It's all right, in the end. You guys weren't meant for each other anyhoo. :P I still think you and Roxy would've been cute together... but I guess you were both too shy in the end. -squishes- I really miss you. Normally we'd all be outside on the little island, but I don't want to go without you. :/ Maybe next weekend. I dunno.

If I said that to Tifa's face, she'd kick my arse. Seriously, I don't dare make her mad anymore. Have you seen her fight lately? She's a beast. And she's still angry about her date earlier.

Aw! Have a nice nap! I think I'm going to go flounder around in the bathtub, or something that requires zero energy. I think depression costs calories.

I love you! Don't get into any trouble!  
Your dearest Kai-RI. 3

from**Namine Strife**

toKairi Lockheart

dateFeb 21, 2009 10:15 AM

subjectY'know, Laptops need keyboard lights….

K to the A to the I to the R to the I :3

Yes, I made your name into a rap. Sue me, it's 12:34 over here and I am dead tired.

So, we finally arrived at the new place called 'home'. I mean, it isn't horrible or anything, but it definitely isn't as nice as your house, Kai. I mean, Cloud and I have to share a bathroom which isn't too horrible.

Concerning your story, that was rather harsh of Tifa. My poor spiked brother; his heart will be smashed into two. D: Y'know, he isn't that unattractive! I mean, he's kinda....uh....

Yeah, no. I can't even pretend my brother is cute--it doesn't work for siblings.

Keybladers, ohmygod, yes. Tickets would be epic, if I can afford them. You know how tight money is around here. But, on good note, we passed a Starbucks in town which is looking to hire. My obsession for coffee was what led me to see the sign. I went exploring the city today, after all.

Speaking of which, my parents took me to see my school--my stomach dropped into my legs. It was HUGE Kairi; nothing like the islands at all. I feel like I'm going to be sick, excuse me.

And I'm back. I wasn't actually sick, but I am so nervous.

As for Roxas, this is how our conversations concluded:

Me, Queen of the Universe: Hi Roxas! -Insert pretty smile-

Roxas, Emo Prince: ......Hi. -Insert walking away-

I mean, helllooo. He couldn't stand a conversation with me. Plus, I heard a rumor that him and Axel were butt buddies. In fact, I am going to email Axel and ask myself. Hahahaha!

It's late here and I should probably get sleep for in the morning....

Lots of love 333

Namine.


	2. Take 2

**Take T W O**

From **Kairi Lockheart **

To Namine Strife

Date Feb 22, 2009 at 3:52 PM

subject ;O Cloud Strife! I'll trade Namine for Tifa!

Love of my life!

Good afternoon! :D Or should I say... AWFUL afternoon. The gang came over to my house this afternoon and my mom literally KICKED me out of the house just for me to interact with humans.  
"I don't want to go outside, Mom," I whined. She looked at me and I knew I'd made a mistake. Her face was a thunderstorm and her black hair was in a messy bun that was about to collapse.  
"None of that, Kairi," she sneered and she smacked my arm. It hurt!  
"I don't wanna go outside," I tried again. "I want to stay out of the sunlight and mope. Send me outside and I'll dye my hair black."  
"I don't care if you dye your hair black!" she screeched. "I wouldn't mind for you to get rid of your sperm-donor's hair-color."  
Seriously. I bet Tifa and I aren't even sisters. I bet I was adopted. Or something.  
Anyway. I didn't really want to dye my hair black, and the lesser of the two evils was going outside.  
The whole gang was there: Sora, Roxas, Wakka, Selphie, Tidus... yet I didn't have fun. They did the same stupid stuff as they always do, but all I did was lay on my stomach in the sand and get stalked by Selphie. I missed you so much. Thank god Selphie was there. And that wasn't meant in a positive way. She would /not/ shut her face. She kept talking to me about girls at school and who was going out with who. Her blabber and annoying presence kept me from thinking about you, so that's good... in a way. First I pretended I fell asleep, but then I actually fell asleep. Luckily Tidus woke me up, but he didn't wake me early enough. My back looks like a crab, my front is still the same old tannish color. It hurts! It hurts really really bad! DX

Oh, hun, I'm sure you'll be fine :] At least one person will notice how amazing you are. Just don't act like you're scared... act like you would around me and you'll be fine ^_^ -hugs-  
What's the city like? Is it bigger than Morrowind? ...Stupid question, of course it is. Morrowind population: 428. Although now it's 424.. :'(

What're you guys doing over there? Unpacking?  
And I have better news for Cloud... early this morning when I got up, Teef was looking through dusty old boxes... although it looked like her boobs were looking through dusty old boxes... O.O  
I'd just started helping her (more like critisizing how much crap she had XD) when we found her yearbooks from her freshman and sophomore year. We started looking through them when we saw Cloud's picture.  
Tifa nearly died of laughter. Poor Cloud! A late bloomer. He still had babyfat in his cheeks, his hair was weirdly cut, and he was exceptionally scrawny. He looked ridiculous! Remember how much we teased him after he got that god-awful haircut? X"DD  
Luckily Kairi saved the day!  
"That's an AWFUL picture of him, Tifa. You can't judge him by that!"  
"It's only been a year, Kai, I'm pretty sure he hasn't changed all that much..." she giggled. Tifa has such a pretty face. I'm so envious of her sometimes. I mean, I know I'm not ugly... but she's so beautiful.  
"Ya-huh! Have you already forgotten how he looked the day before yesterday when the Strife family came to say good-bye?"  
She paused, then looked at me funnily.  
"What?"  
"They came by! Nami and her family came by to say bye!"  
"...They did?"  
"Oh my god! You don't remember!"  
"I was probably upstairs or something, Kai..."  
"No! You were downstairs!" I gasped as I realized how bad of a memory she actually had. "YOU AND CLOUD WERE TALKING TO EACH OTHER!"  
"No we weren't! Why the hell would I talk to /him/?!"  
"I REMEMBER! HE WAS ASKING YOU IF YOU LIKED MOTORCYCLES! AND YOU WERE A BITCH TO HIM! I REMEMBER!"  
"Shut up, Kairi!" she scowled.  
I started to flip like a maniac through her sophomore yearbook and found that nice picture of Cloud balancing on the cafeteria wall. Full body shot!  
I stuffed it under her nose and she gasped.  
"No way! That can't be Cloud Strife!"  
"Yes it is! Even the caption says so!"  
"Oh my god!" She continued to gape at the picture. "How did he turn so hot so fast?!"  
"You seriously need to start looking at people when they talk to you instead of constantly repeating their names in your head."  
She scowled at me briefly before comparing the two pictures again.  
"Is he single?"  
"Oh yes. He just broke up with his girlfriend," I lied. "She was too shallow for him."  
"Good," she said before flopping on her back.  
"'Good'?! That's it?!"  
"Well, I would feel kinda bad if I fantasized over him while he's dating another girl..." Then she turned on her stomach and giggled a very un-Tifa-ish giggle.  
THERE'S STILL HOPE!

LMAO! What did Axel say? I bet he replied to you with only this in the message: ";D"  
Oh crap

Tifa wants to get behind the computer. Damn, that was a close one. Sorry for all the spaces above XD I couldn't afford for her to see we're playing Matchmaker

L ots  
O f  
V ivid  
E strogen

Kai-nay :]

From **Namine Strife **

To Kairi Lockheart

Date Feb 22, 2009 at 7:30 PM

Subject So, if I set myself on fire...?

Kai, I had the worse day of my life. I know you're reading this email, thinking that one time we gave each other the flu through the Spirit bottle was bad, but this was ten times worse. Not only is the school huge, but it's filled with rich and stuck up preps. Oh, and they are all beautiful--have I mentioned that? This is how the scene when:

Holding my breath, I nervously pushed the classroom door open and stepped inside. Instantly, twenty-three pairs of eyes turned to look at me, the new girl. I fidgeted and held my stetch pad closer to my non-existent chest(Yes, Kairi, we know your chest surpassed mine three months ago. Let's not brag.). The teacher, a middle-aged man with bright blue hair a criss-cross scar over his face, turned his golden eyes on me and exhaled, "Namine Strife, correct?"

"Y-yes," I stammered out, feeling the stain of red cross on my skin. Y'know, for living on a island, I'm really pale. Not to mention I was wearing my white dress. Kairi, don't you DARE comment on it! It isn't slutty in the slightest--look at what you wear ;D. Kidding, you know I love you.

"Take a seat next to....hm, Olette. Olette, raise your hand, please. Welcome to Geometry, Namine. Please let me know if you have any troubles," the teacher said calmly, and pointed to the assignment on the board. I shuffled to my seat and sat down next to the brunette who had a soft smile on her features. She seemed nice enough......

"My name's Olette--it's nice to meet you, Namine," with this, she stuck out her hand and shook mine. I was stunned by the sudden act of boldness, and offered her one of my small, shy smiles.

"Thanks Olette. Uh, can I ask what his name....?" I pointed over to the teacher, and she giggled.

"Oh, that's Mr. Saix. He's nice, but don't ever mention the subject of hearts. He could go on ALL day."

I grimaced and turned back to my work.

And, you know, the morning seemed alright. Olette was cool, and she introduced me to her friends Hayner and Pence. I seriously thought Hayner has a crush on her, just from the way he looks at her. However, my good mood was ruined when I had to go to Chemistry. Kairi, I swear, God must hate me. The teacher placed me next to his delicious looking guy. Like, muscles, long silver hair, and shocking aqua eyes--hot. My entire fantasy was ruined, however, once he opened his mouth. He's incredibly sexist, and not to mention rude! Like, ugh, I just lost respect for the male population. Apparently, though, he's the star of the track team; explains the muscles. Olette said his name was Riku, but I'm calling him Old Man(OM for short.) because of his hair color. Like, I thought WAKKA'S hair color was odd--not uh. Not at all. Moving on from the conversation of Mr. Asshole.....

OH. MY. GOD. Teef thinks my bro is hot? YES! FINALLY! So, can I start planning the wedding? Please? Oh, and my brother hates the color yellow, so Tifa can't get off white. I'm so excited! -Dances- Oh, crap, Cloud go away. DON'T READ THIS. YOU HAVE A SMALL PENIS. YES. WALK AWAY. Good boy.

Anyways, Kai, don't feel bad! D: I'm there with you in spirit. Try hanging around Demyx or something! He's cute, and he'll play you music. x3 I might have had a small crush on him but DON'T. TELL. AXEL.

Speaking of which, Axel DID reply to me and wanted to inform me that he always thought that I would look nice in spandex. Interesting, yes? He SO does coke or something. Or heroine. Maybe both.

Tomorrow better be a better day; can you maybe drive here and attend school with me? D:

33333

Your adorable artist,

Nami-chan.

From **Kairi Lockheart **

To Namine Strife

Date Mar 1, 2009 at 12:27 PM

Subject ...then I would kill you after extinguishing you.

Hola mi bonita chica! 3

That sounds horribly awful. D: Would you believe me if I told you it'll be fine? AND WHAT A WHORE, that dude that sits beside you. Maybe you should accidentally spill some acid on him... accidentally I say. And not too much, or we'll have a Darth Vader on our hands.

I feel bad saying this, but my day was pretty bad too. The guys made fun of my burnt neck the whole day, according to them, I'm a redneck -.- And my bra straps hurt my back so much, I went to the bathroom and took it off. I didn't know where to put it, so I slipped it in my front pocket and completely forgot about it.  
At lunch, Selphie went to sit with her other friends (read as; her other stuck-up bitches...) and Wakka, Tidus, Roxas and Sora spent the rest of the lunch trying to make soda come out of their noses.  
Tidus was the first to succeed.  
"OHMYGOD," he screamed, "IT BURNS!"  
I think they should add "idiot" as a synonym for "boy."

Later, during art, I was sketching away (I suck abs XD) when Sora, who sits next to me, leaned towards me and started to whisper.  
"PSST."  
"Y'know, you're not exactly being secretive..."  
"Have I ever told you how wonderful your hair looks in the sunlight?"  
"What do you want, Sora?"  
"Didya do the geo homework?"  
I rolled my eyes at him.  
"Lazy ass."  
"I know. Can I see?"  
"No."  
"Please?"  
"No way."  
"Pretty, pretty please? Last time, I swear."  
I know you don't approve, but he looked so friggin' cute, Nami. What would you have done? I know you have a soft spot for Sora :P Actually, is there anyone who doesn't?  
"Fine. It's in the blue binder."  
I heard him zip open my bookbag. I looked at my sketch of you and I was just about to add your white (short) dress when I realized another article of clothing was in my bookbag.  
Yes.  
He found my bra before I did. And he was staring at it like it was a giant spider.  
Needless to say my face turned the darkest shade of red possible and I kicked him in the shins. Unfortunately, I knocked him off of his chair and he went crashing into the still-life model we were supposed to be drawing. The two of us have detention tomorrow after school.

Walking home without you is horribly lame.  
Tifa joined me half-way, her legs perfectly hairless and amazingly tan, her long hair tossing in the wind.  
"Guess what," she beamed.  
"What is it, Tifa?" I sighed.  
She started to balance on random rocks in the road. Her teeth were so white that the sunlight reflected off of her smile.  
"I have a new crush," she grinned.  
In my mind I saw her and Cloud getting married, us as bridesmaids. They bought a huge house and a slightly smaller one where we lived and went to school together in our private jet. We were taking care of beautiful blond-haired babies whilst talking to one another.  
"Oh, really?" I heard myself say. "Who?"  
"Zack Fair," she said.  
The babies instantly grew huge spiky hair and started to laugh evilly at us.  
"WHAT?" I spluttered. Tifa's brown eyes grew and she stared at me.  
"ZACK FAIR?" I screeched. "Zack Fair? Seriously?!"  
"Okay, Kai, I know that you have slight disagreements with him--"  
"Slight disagreements?! He's tried to kill me more than once!"  
"Kairi, you do not die by being pushed into a swimming pool or being mocked for extended periods of time or by kidnappings on motorcycles--"  
"Ugh. UGHH! Why can't you fall for someone REASONABLE!"  
And then I stomped off like the child I was. Grr. Stupid Tifa. Why can't she just fall in love with Cloud?!

Anyhoo. I'll ttyl, I've got to pee somethin' serious.

LESS THAN THREE YOU.  
Kaikai. (--I sound like a dog.)

From **Namine Strife **

To Kairi Lockheart

Date Mar 2, 2009 at 12:27 PM

Subject Kairi=Cold Hearter Killa? :O

Kai :]

Um, no? It will NOT be fine. I mean, hello, have you seen me? And, yes, I am being insecure again--sue me. It's kind of hard not to be when your older sibling received all good genes. Yes, I know you think Tifa is prettier than you, but you are freaking sexy Kairi; I am not. I mean, ugh! -Flails about- I could totally go for dumping some acid on this ass. Apparently he's a Junior--big freaking whoop. Us sophomores are just as cool as upper class men!

They made FUN of you? Holy cow, I am going to hunt them down. And Tidus is always the one to succeed with the idiot tasks; he's naturally good at them. Also, does Roxas....miss me? Even a bit? I WANT TO FEEL LOVED. As for art class:

A, Never give out your homework.

B, Sora? Yes, he's cute and I liked him in Freshmen year, but he's so LAZY and such a mooch.

C, Kairi, what have we discussed about hiding the bra in the backpack? Always UNDER the books.

And thus, if you follow Namine's fool-proof plan, you won't be attending detention anymore! But, hopefully you'll get Mr. Leonhart? I swear, he is so dreamy. -Insert Nami droolage-

...........My dreams of blonde babies just died. ZACK. FREAKING. FAIR? The dude who smashed pie into my face at the fair in eighth grade? I HATE HIM.

I am "accidentally" sending Tifa some half naked pictures of Cloud. He's been working out, apparently. o.o Like, a lot. I didn't notice until I commented on him taking steroids because he was walking around in his pjs. So, how could Tifa NOT like my brother? He's....he's......HE CAN RIDE A MOTORCYCLE. It's /slightly/ appealing, right? -Flails-

I started Starbucks today! Ohmygosh, it was so much fun except for one TINY LITTLE FACTOR:

The. Old. Man. Slash. Jerk. Works. There. Basically, my reaction:

"You? What the hell are you doing here?" I practically yelled, my choppy hair whipping back on my shoulder. Ugh, someone shoot me, please? In reply, the old man/teenager smirked and RUFFLED MY DAMN HAIR.

"I have a name, you know. Hey, you're that chick from Chemistry today. Namine, right? I'm Riku." With this, he flashed me his dazzling chompers. Kairi, his teeth were....perfect. I HATE HIM. GR.

I huffed and turned around, placing my apron on, "Oh, really? Uh, nice to meet you..." INSERT INNER BARF. IT WAS NOT, IN ANYWAY, NICE TO MEET HIM. Needlessly put, he tripped me on purpose and made me spill white cream all over me. And then what did he do? He wiped some off my nose and stuck it in his mouth. UGH. I HATE HIM, KAIRI, AND I ONLY KNOW HIM FOR LESS THAN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

-Heavy breathing-

Anyways, who are you liking these days? Sora, stilll? ;D TELL ME, WOMAN, I WANT DETAILS.

Love always,

Namine.

From **Kairi Lockheart **

To Namine Strife

Date Mar 2, 2009 at 12:39 PM

Subject Only when it requires saving your life. :]

:O :] :P :D

Namii! Shush! SHH! Stop that right now! I'd tap that ;D  
Nami, you need to quit being so doubtful about yourself. You are beautiful, sexy, and you have the cutest smile I've ever seen. And about Cloud and genes... just be glad you didn't inherit that perfectly spiky-ness that is Cloud. (We are so cruel to your brother, yes we are.)

And oh yes... they made/make fun of me and my poor back. It's not my fault I look like a crab! The worst they've thought of so far is (of course, a collaborated effort of Sora and Tidus) features them all walking sideways like crabs, and their arms curled and they shape their hands like pincers. In retrospect, it's a good thing I'm not as strong as Tifa, because I wanted to go all Uma Thurman on them and throw a vending machine on them.

Anyhoo. DETENTION.  
Mr. Gill was watching us... and by watching, I mean WATCHING. He apparently found it necessary to stare at us the entire time, whilst I found it necessary to stare out the window away from Sora, who found it necessary to pick at his fingernails, making a horrible "tick, tsick" noise. Sometimes he'd mutter, "Ouch..." and I'd imagine his index fingernail ripped into shreds, blood dripping in large chunks on the desk.  
You know I have hematophobia really bad. I don't know why I can't stand blood in real life, but I don't mind it on TV that much. Weird.  
When the hour was finally up, the sun had sunken real low. I would've almost made my escape if Sora hadn't caught up with me.  
"Hey! Hey, Kairi!"  
"What is it, Sora?" I turned around, making my voice and face as tired as possible, hoping he would take the hint.  
Naturally, he didn't.  
"Oh, nothing," he grinned. "I thought we ought to walk home together."  
Thank god, we walked in silence for a long time, then he started talking to me.  
"You seem different."  
"Huh?" I said blankly.  
"Since Namine left, you haven't laughed at all. Your skin has gotten paler because you never come with us to the island anymore, and you always seem tired.  
Oh Nami, it was so hard not to break down and start crying right in front of him. Call me stupid, but even though he's annoying at times, he's actually quite sweet.  
"Look," I heard myself say. "I... I gotta go. I need to get some... some milk for Tifa. She likes her milk, y'know... I'll see you tomorrow."  
I took our Jonesies route (don't hurt me! Old Mr. Jones is too old and blind to accurately shoot me!) and got a few scratches on my face. And tush, I already took care of them. You should be a nurse.

YES. THAT SAME EXACT ONE.  
The annoying, obnoxious, loud, rude, impudent, cocky, outgoing son-of-a-bad-word! How the hell could Tifa fall for him?!  
Cloud is definitely cooler than Zack. In fact, I think even Axel would be cooler than Zack!  
Ew. Gay red-haired babies. Iono. That's a tough one.  
I think Cloud should come over here for some... "artifacts" you forgot -hint hint- on his motorcycle of course... and I bring him coffee and spill it over his (he'll have to wear a white one for the occasion) shirt and Tifa will come to clean up and he'll ssss....lowww...lyyyy... take off... his shirt...  
And Tifa will spontaneously get a nosebleed. BAYAM! True love right there.  
You should know that she's been walking around the house happier than ever. Singing. She SINGS. I think Axel drugged her... just for fun... I bet Reno was in on it too...

And apparently, it's going to be smokin' hot the Saturday after next, so the juniors started planning a huge trip to the island. (I never knew Zack was an avid stalker of the Weather Channel.) It started out as Zack and Tifa, apparently... (grrr :O) and then it grew to Zack, Tifa, Aerith, Squall and Yuffie. Then Aerith told Sora they were going to the beach, and Sora found it a brilliant idea to rally up Roxas, Tidus, Wakka and myself. -.- Of course Roxas had to go tell Axel, so now him and Reno are coming too. Of course, you can't keep stuff from Selphie for too long, so now she's coming too.  
I'm not excited in the least bit, but what can I do? I wish you and Cloud were still here... You because I love you and Cloud because he can flirt with Tifa, show off his glorious chest (oh, don't deny it, Cloud is hot) and keep Zack somewhat... calmer.

I'll talk to you later, Tifa wants her turn behind the PC. What does she even do, stalk Zack on Facebook?

LOVE ALWAYS.  
Kairi~


	3. Take 3

**Take T H R E E**

From: **Namine Strife **

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: March 3, 2009 at 9:35 PM

Subject: Official: My Life Is A Soap-Opera

Kairi, you only say that because your my best friend, but thank-you, anyways. 3 You're always there for me when I need you. Also, I am perfectly contented with my /non/ spiker hair. If I inherited Cloud's hair(like, seriously, where the hell did it come from....), I'd go emo and shave my head. By the way, who DOESN'T make fun of Cloud? He's smart, but seriously dumb sometimes. Not to mention he is the only guy I know who uses the phrase 'let's mosey'.

......I'm glad I didn't buy you that samurai sword you wanted last Christmas. Poor Sora and Tidus would be sushi and be contently digusted in Wakka's belly by the time I came to visit for the summer. As for their, uh, interesting positions, I find it....onlyslightlyhumorous. Don't hurt me! You know that if I were burnt, you'd find it hysterical!

Oh, Kairi, that entire paragraph made me want to burst into tears and run away back to Morrowind. .....Think I could? I'd work for food! And shelter....and I'd steal your shoes....xD But, Sora is a sweetie; you should talk to him more. :] I know he has, like, a major crush on you. And Mr. Gill? Like, the one who /supposedly/ looked down Selphie's uniform last year? Ewww, he is so creepy! I feel for you, babe. .....I know how you hate blood in real life, but how can you stand to watch 300 and other gory movies? o.O I don't get your weird logic sometimes, Kai. .....Wait, I lied--I totally do.

.....MR. JONES' SHORTCUT? Kairi, I've told you, he has insanity to, like, an extreme! Cloud got shot at once, remember? And he has that nice scar to prove it on his arm! -Flails about- Never ever take that path again, or I'll come over there and threaten Tidus to walk you home every day.

Ew, I hate that guy. Why can't your sister get good taste in men aka my brother? As for your plan, Cloud NEVER EVER WEARS WHITE. Like, he's stuck on black, navy blue, and gray. On good days, he'll wear green. I mean, he claims that bright colors hurt his eyes; and he wonders why I call him emo, exactly. ....No, Zack is better than Axel. Axel would be hitting on Roxas and ignore Tifa on their date. xD

Aw, a trip to the beach sounds exciting, Kai! Especially one with all of our friends going! :3 Oh, how is Aerith? She's such a sweetie--too bad Cloud broke up with her because he's in love with your sister. I mean, I love Tifa and all, but she is so. OBLIVIOUS. Didn't she ever wonder who sent her those ohsolovely roses last year for Valentine's Day? Hell-OH, obviously my spiked brother. Anyways, you'll have to tell me all about the trip and who was with who. :]

........Have I mentioned how much I hate the Old Man? Thought so. Time for bed, dearest--it's late. I LOVE YOU! 3

Nami.

From: **Kairi Lockheart **

To: Namine Strife

Date: Mar 19, 2009 at 7:21 PM

Subject: **-packs Old Man in box and ships to Antarctica-**

NAMI :D  
You. Are. Beautiful. PERIOD. END OF DISCUSSION.  
And your brother... -shakes head- Dear god. He's a definite weirdo. Remember that time when we switched his shampoo with the ULTRA!volume shampoo... oh my god... curly spikes... -dies of laughter-

HEY. Those swords were COOL. And who needs swords... at school, they have PLASTIC FORKS. Forks are generally considered weapons... yet they don't have spoons? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?  
You don't have to steal my shoes, dear. I'll give them to you willingly! I miss you soooo much. Do you think possibly-maybe you could come over here for the beach-trip? Pleeeeeaaaase. Who am I gonna talk to? Tifa's probably gonna be making out in some cottage with Zack, double-ew.

Sora liking /me/?! I /highly/ doubt that. Sora's far too immature and childish. But god, I love him. I dunno how I feel about him anymore. Everything was kinda weird after Wakka asked you out. When you guys went out, we would all be quiet, and then Sora'd be all, "So who do you like, Kairi?" and I'd be all, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I like Roxas." and Sora'd be all, "Do you like Kairi, Roxas?" and Roxas would be all, "I dunno, I think I might like Namine." and Tidus would be all, "This is weird. This is really weird."

I know Selphie tells many lies... but Mr. Gill. Is seriously. A pedooooo-phileee! Although, at detention the other day, I caught him staring at Sora instead of me more than once...  
And Selphie doesn't have anything for him to stare at! Seriously, what is she, negative 32B?

Okay... his shortcut is dangerous... but I'm pretty sure he's legally considered blind now.  
Your poor brother! XD I just now realize how BAD we've been treating him! Remember when that happened... how old were we, like, twelve? And he warned us not to use his backyard, but naturally, Cloud forbidding us to do something only makes in more tempting... XD And he came after us because Sora had to be a little snitch and tell him we were there. Thank god the bullet only hit him in the arm. Poor, poor Cloud. Tell him I love him brotherly and I mean it this time.  
Emo. EMMOOOO!  
For our next prank... we should open the window in his room and cleverly place a bunch of mirrors in his room so that when he walks in.... BAM! Blinded by light. Ba ha ha.

About Tifa... I'm seriously considering telling her. Just going up to her and being like, "TIFA! You're breaking Cloud Strife's heart because he's madly in love with you, which he's been since you guys were in eighth grade!"  
She's incredibly stupid. I've been throwing hints at her all week, and they just fly over her head, each and every one of them. She's been giggling FAR too much about Zack than I like. Apparantly he kissed her on the cheek. Big DEAL. I want those blond-haired spiky babies PRONTO.  
I guess I really shouldn't tell Tifa... Cloud should be the one doing that. It's just really frustrating, y'know? (What a Wakka. XD)

Nami, dearest... don't kill me, but it sounds like you really like this dude. XD Pleeeaase! -runs for the hills- I love you! XD  
Ugh.. someone's at the door. Bai bai. LY.  
Kairi. 3

From: **Namine Strife **

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Mar 22, 2009 at 1:41 AM

Subject: D:

....You drive a hard baragin, Miss Kairi. I'll agree with you for now. YOU MAY HAVE WON THE BATTLE, BUT NOT THE WAR! And who can forget my brother's lovely, curly fro...thing? ....Next time, we're dyeing it blue or something. ;D

I know the swords were cool, but you seriously have an OBSESSION with them. Like, remember that one time Cloud was practicing for fencing and you swiped his sword? Yeah--that's what I mean. OH! Can I have the few boots with the kitten heels? They look amazing on me with my white dress if I do say so myself. As for the beach-trip...I can always ask Cloud to drive me there....on his motorcycle...in which I am deathly scared of. And ew! GROSS! Make sure Tifa and Zack are NOT caught in the lip action.

Have you SEEN the way Sora stares at you? Or, well, did? Does he still? I'M NOT THERE TO TELL. -Glances at pencil- OH HAPPY DAGGER! -Stabs-

....Okay, so Cloud found me on the floor and called me a drama queen. Yeesh--have a heart, hm Spiky?

Anyways, back to my Sora discussion--he so likes you. I can FEEL it. And wait a tick--ROXAS SAID HE LIKED ME. OHMYGOD, WHEN? WHERE? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? -Insert crying Namine- And, for the record, Tidus is so oblivious sometimes. xD

I KNEW IT! Mr. Gill is so queer for Mr. Leonhart! I TOLD you I saw him staring at his tush once! And you called me insane--well, HAH. And Kai, don't hate just because you have melons instead of oranges...-stares at boobs-.

Mh.....reflecting light off of Cloud. ZOMG, HE'S SO PALE THAT HE WOULD SPARKLE LIKE EDWARD CULLEN FROM TWILIGHT. -Sigh- I wish I had some hott vampire who would give up everything just to be with me. Instead I have a brother who would trade me in for an advancement on his motorcycle. -.-'' BUT KAIRI LOCKHEART, IF YOU TAKE THAT PATH AGAIN I WILL SKIN YOU WITH MY.........pencil.

As for telling Tifa....maybe you should, or maybe you shouldn't. I'm kind of hoping that Cloud will rush to her while they are in the rain, and speak to her lovingly. My script:

-Insert rainy scene. Cloud slowly dismounts motorcycle and spots Tifa-

Cloud: Tifa, there is something I want to tell you.

-Tifa turns around-

Tifa: What is it, Cloud?

Cloud: .......

-Cloud grabs Tifa and they share a single, passionate kiss. The rain makes the scene more passionate and--

....Crap. I have to leave for school now. I LOVE YOU AND WILL TALK TO YOU SOON. 3333

-Insert eight hours later-

.........It. was. hell.

Sure, Olette, Pence, and Hayner are really nice to me, but OLD MAN IS A DOUCHE. AND NO, KAIRI, I DO NOT LIKE HIM. He is so arrogant and horrible and AND and!

....I was partnered to do a lab with him. So, it's bad enough I suck with chemicals, but now that he is my partner, I may just accidentally spill acid on to him like previously discussed. And he is always smirking at me and making fun of my intellect.

Oh, and did I mention he called my white dress slutty? IT IS NOT SLUTTY. Ohmygod, I hate him Kairi. I really do. And to think I have to go work with him after this insanity today. Ugh. Thank-God Art is a kind of relieving class. The teacher, Mr. Xigbar, is really hippy-like and easy going. -Exhale-

I need you here, Kairi. A lot. D:

I MISS YOU. 3

Nami.

From: **Kairi Lockheart **

To: Namine Strife

Date: Mar 24, 2009 at 10:50 PM

Subject: **-breakdances-**

I ought to win the war... because I speak NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! Ask anybody but Selphie and they shall agree with me :)  
Ohmygod. XDD Certainly not Tifa. XD I'm actually quite surprised that Cloud hasn't killed us yet... all the things we've done to him... and with him -vividly remembers time at camp when we dragged his sleeping back into the woods-  
Dude. I know you're terrified of that motorcycle of his... but seriously. You NEED to come here for beach trip. Pleeeeease. Maybe? Tell Cloud I've got some pictures of Tifa at the beach... and I'm not afraid to use them.  
I have NOT seen them kissing [yet]. However. They are both very giggly. And I do not like it. -plots break-up-  
Or better yet... Zack dies a horrible tragic death due to mysterious circumstances and Cloud comes into the picture and cheers her up! :D

SORA STARES AT ME? WHAAAAT? WHY WAS I NEVER INFORMED OF THIS? Are you serious? Wait... is it like, horny stares or actual genuine... stares.  
I DIDN'T TELL YOU BECAUSE... well... I don't know. I'm at least positive he liked you at one point in time... I think I overheard him talking to Sora about asking you out. ("Dude, you... you like her?" "I think so..." "Whoa. I never saw that coming. But she's like... our friend." "Yeah, I know." "It would be... weird, like when Wakka went out with her.")

-.- Fine, fine! I won't take Mr. Jones' shortcut again. Where else am I supposed to cross? The Williams have a freaking pitbull that'll chase me down! Grr. But just to make you happy, I shall endure long awkward and painful walks with people whom I really do not want to talk to when they ask me about my mental well-being. -.-

That script... sounds amazing. It should be in a Titanic sequel. "THE TITANIC: Black in black with Jack!" Oh yeahh.

Nami-dear... you always crack people down when you like them.. XD I'm sorry, but it's true... XDD  
Like... what does he do? I'm sure it's not that bad. And you know what they say about guys... when they're mean, they like you :P

My back finally healed, thank God. The "Crabwalk" is still hanging in there, though. We (me, Sora, Tidus, Roxas, Wakka, Selphie) were walking home this afternoon... (get ready for this...!) and Tidus and Sora were (naturally) making fun of me.  
"I heard your back's doing better now, Kairi," Sora said.  
"Your mom's doing better now," I scowled. I immediately though of you... you hate it when I say that.  
"Guess your back's finally lighter than your hair again," Tidus said. Sora immediately laughed and started the "Crabwalk."  
"Seriously, can't you guys pick on someone else?!" I snarled. "If you two had just paid attention, being all caught up in your stupid faux-lightsaber fights, I wouldn't have burned in the first place. Maybe next time you should do both of us a favor and not drag me along everywhere you go like I'm your groupie! I'm sorry I have an own free will and I'm sorry I'm not like Selphie!" I started to walk away again when someone grabbed my wrist.  
"Kairi," Sora said. I turned around angrily, tears in my eyes.  
"What?!" I demanded.  
"I'm sorry," he said very quietly. Once again... it was extremely difficult not to just fall in his arms and start sobbing my heart out. It was such a... Selphie-ish thing to do.  
"Speaking of Selphie," Roxas suddenly said, emerging from his silence, "where is she?"  
"...Where's Wakka?" Tidus vaguely wondered.

We backtracked and found the two full-on making out in the bushes. Yuck! I'm not only speaking for myself when I say I was thoroughly disgusted. We decided not to interfere and forget the incident had ever happened.  
Selphie and Wakka... the only thing worse would be Selphie and Sora. D:

Anyhoo. I G2G. Bai. Luv ya. 3  
Kairi.

From: **Namine Strife **

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Mar 25, 2009 at 6:54 PM

Subject: Do the Stanky Leegggg. -Shot-

You do NOT speak the truth, Kairi sweetie. Oh and, by the way, I am greatly enjoying his mixture of screamo music you burned for me last Christmas as a gag gift. Now I'm sitting here with my earphones blaring, because the CD reminds me of that day and the embarassment of the Christmas play at school. I swear, why do people think I'm more fit to be the role of a freaking sheep? I mean, sure, my 'baaahs' are pretty convincing, but Selphie should NOT have been the Virigin Mary. I mean, duh, she probably isn't a virgin. .....Unless she is. If she happens to read this, please do not shank me, Selphie.

Giggly isn't good. Namine is currently planning operation: TaKe! DoWn; it will have a few goals in mind.

1. Terminate Zack at all costs. He must be dealt with. No one squishes pie in MY face, dammit.

2. Make Tifa realize how much she really craves Cloud and his emoing attitude. Yes, she will realize she wants him one day [in bed].

3. Get Sora to like and admit his feelings for you. I'm sensing it, Kai, he is in love with you. DON'T DENY.

4. Convince 'rents to move us back to Morrowind. I don't care if I have to hitch hike there and try to survive under your bed. I will do it.

5. Kill Old Man with radioactivity. ....Maybe this one should be first.....

Thus ending Namine's life plan.

Most definitely STARE stare. Like, none of that disgusting drool nonsense that Axel does when Selphie wears her purple knit bikini. It's defo the real thing--our little Sora all grown up and crushing on our very own KAI-KAI. -Squeals- And, uh, ROXAS IS A FLIPPING MORON. Ohmygod, I'll kill him next time I see him. I mean, was it really so hard to tell me that he /might/ have liked me? Ugh, apparently so.

.....Aw, Kairi, what about walking home with Sora? He'd do it........-evil grin- What's his email again? I'll make SURE he walks home with you. -Cackle- And my script is the epic shazz. I mean, Hollywood will be FIGHTING to hire me, correct? ;D

Trussst me, babe, Old Man does not like me, nor do I like him. He blows in my ear in Chemistry to watch me jump, and at work, he always makes sure I trip or something ridiculous. Here, I shall make an reenactment of how the scene typically goes:

Me: -GrumbleGrumble-

Old Man: -Smirk- Oh, is someone in a bad mood? Oh, here, this will help.

Me: I don't--

Old Man: -Pours liquid over head- There you go; all better. -Swaggers off-

Me: ..............SONOFA--

-Insert cussing here-

-Smirk Smirk- Kairi, darling, you do realize you basically told me you like SORA. AWWW. KAIRI AND SORA SITTING IN A TREEEEEEE. And ew--Wakka and Selphie? That is so....gross. Wakka must have lowered his standards or something. o.o I don't even think Old Man would be willing to date Selphie. ......My grandpa wouldn't be willing to date Selphie.

Well, hun, I have homework. ILY 3

Toodles!

Namine.


	4. Take 4

**Take F O U R**

From:

To:

Date: Mar 29, 2009 at 2:03 PM

Subject: Wha-wha-WHATTT?

Nami, m'dear.  
Today was the /wackiest/ day of my entire LIFE. And this includes that day that Axel and Reno made out on the beach. I shall begin to give you a full report. -clears throat- As soon as I have replied to all of your pondering.

TaKe! DoWn sounds flipping GENIUS to me. I personally believe number 2 and 4 are at the upmost of urgencies at the moment. Zack is an idiot who should have his motorcycle liscence revoked! And you won't have to sleep under my bed... you can have my bed! XD Your 'rents can sleep in the guest room... and Cloud can sleep in Tifa's room ;D ;D ;D

And I really, truly believe... that this dude likes you. XD TAKE A PICTURE OF HIM. I WANT TO SEE WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE. -flails- AND HE BLOWS IN YOUR EAR? Dude. DUUUUDE. Definite giveaway. Right there.  
What's his last name? Wait, what's his REAL name? -plots to Facebook him- Your babies will have silver-hair! :D~ How cute.  
-flees-

So. Onward with daily occurences. And yes. You are included.  
It was lunchtime. I got to our table first with my food and sat down. I was just about to start eating when somebody bumps against the table, sending my tray over the edge of the table and onto my lap.  
"What the--" I started, but a very disgusting image intruded into my mind. Selphie was leaning so far over the table I thought her spine was going to break. Wakka had his hand under her shirt and moving up. They were making out... and not the little tongue-stroking kind. Full-blown making out, slobber everywhere, making disgusting noises. If you thought Axel and Reno scarred you for life, think again.  
"Kairi, your food is--" I heard Sora say behind me, but I guess then he noticed what was happening on our table.  
"I think I'm gonna be sick," I said in a very small voice.  
"Look away, just look away," Sora said, and he turned my head in a different direction.  
We remained ignoring the current situation until Tidus came to save the day.  
"Wakka! Selphie!" he yelled, his face in utter disgust. "What the hell! Some of us want to eat! Go in the bathroom and continue what you were doing!"  
It's a good thing looks can't kill, because Tidus would've been brutally murdered. Selphie and Wakka skulked off.  
"And I thought the school chili was nasty," said Roxas, who'd just come to join our table.  
Yuck. Yuck yuck YUCK!  
And my food had spilled a little on my lap. Sora got me a wet napkin and luckily, nothing stained.  
"How's Namine doing?" Roxas asked me.  
"Is she coming up here for the beach trip?" Sora asked.  
"Yeah, about that..." Tidus started. "Zack told Tifa to tell Yuffie to tell me to tell you guys that there's been a slight change of plans."  
"Whaddya mean?"  
"It's going to be blazing hot tomorrow, so he moved--"  
"Are you serious?!" I yelled. Tidus looked at me, alarmed. "He moved it up?! He knew I was trying to arrange it so Namine could come with us! He knew that!" My voice broke and I quickly stopped talking.  
Tidus reached out and touched my hand.  
"Look, Kai, we know that you miss her, and you can still be friends with her, but you're going to have to accept sooner or later that Namine can't always come with us on everything anymore."  
I jerked my hand away and stood up violently, knocking my chair over. Then I ran out of the side entrance and into the courtyard. I folded my arms as I heard the door open again after me. There were running footsteps, but they quickly slowed to a walk and stopped.  
"Kairi?"  
It was Sora, of course.  
"What?" I said frostily. Tears were starting to swarm in my eyes and making my vision blurry.  
"C'mere..." He grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. I hugged him and started crying. He put his arms around me and held me as I sobbed into his chest.  
After a while, my bodily fluids started to run low, and I finally stopped crying.  
"Feel better now?" Sora said softly. I nodded and let go of him. I rubbed my eyes and attempted to smile.  
"Bleh, I bet I look awful."  
"Not at all," Sora smiled. Then he saw how I looked at him and his face got red. "I mean--! It's just-- you look fine, you look fine!"  
I laughed at him.  
"Let's go inside," I said. "I'm starving." My stomach grumbled, as if to give emphasis to my words.  
"Y-yeah, let's."  
Sora meekly followed me inside and started to scarf down his food once we sat down. Tidus and Roxas gave him a questioning look.  
"Sora, why is your face so red?" Tidus asked.  
"HAWWWWWT!" Sora exclaimed, pointing to his burger that was overloaded with hot sauce.

So. You are right about Sora liking me. ;~; It's confuzzling me. Now that I see you're right... I've noticed that he /does/ look at me a lot. XDD Oh god. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!

So tomorrow, we're having that beach trip. Which should be total... fun. I guess. How am I supposed to keep Tifa and Zack apart?! GIVE ME TIPS, WOMAN. An overnight trip to the island is just too risky! DX Oh dear oh dear. And what am I supposed to do about Sora... what if I don't like him? How do I know if I like him?! AHHHHH! Save me! -runs and flails about-

ILY.  
Kairi.

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Mar 29, 2009 at 3:54 PM

Subject: Re: Wha-wha-WHATTT?

Kairi, darling, I knew Axel and Roxas were extremely queer for each other. Like, I knew it from the bottom of my BEING. And your lovely little comment made my day. Oh yes it did.

...Fine, you won. I attached a picturre of what he looks like in this email. AND BE GRATEFUL BECAUSE I HAD TO STALK HIM AT TRACK PRACTICE TO GET IT. Old Man's real name is Riku.......something. I don't know his last name; people just seem to either call him "Riku", "Hey Man", or "Hottie". The last one I will never understand. At all. And just because he blows in my ear doesn't mean he likes me. I mean, hell-oh, Cloud blows in my ear to annoy me. It's just a way to aggravate me. Also, Kairi, if you ever mention silver haired babies again, I will personally hitch-hike to Morrowind to kick your ass. But I still love you, of course. :]

Ohmygod, Kairi, I'm so sorry baby. D: I'm going to see if Cloud will drive me in next weekend. I promise I'll see you soon--promise. As for Tidus, he was being a jerk, but he had a point. I won't be there to do everything with you guys, but Zack didn't have to up the date of the beach trip; that was an asshole move. However, at least you FINALLY realize that Sora likes you. Good grief, girlie, it surely took you long enough. I knew he liked you in third grade when he offered to lend you his sneakers when you forgot your's in gym. NO ONE borrowed Sora's lucky sneakers. No onnne.

As for my day, well, it was pretty monotonous. However, some kid named Seifer was hitting on me, according to Olette. The interesting thing? OM came to my rescue....kinda. Hence this story:

I was sitting there, minding my own business in class, doodling inside my art pad. I must say I looked quite smashing. It was picture day, and I wore my black jeans and that white cashmere sweater you bought for me last christmas. And I even went as far as to put a HAIRCLIP in my hair. Cute, right? So, I was sitting there and this tall, blonde guy walks up to me and sits down at our table. I mean, one could call him 'cute', but the faces that Pence, Hayner, and Olette were shooting him told me that he was someone I shouldn't talk to.

"Hey cutie," he finally said, breaking the tense silence at our table. I blinked and glanced over at him, offering a small smile.

"Hello," I replied nicely, trying to be civil. I mean, he hadn't done anything to me--why should I be mean? He then snaked his arm around my shoulders, and I squirmed. Okay, so he wasn't nice anymore. Hayner and Olette started to yell at him, but the guy simply ignored it.

"I'm Seifer. And what is your name, beautiful?" he smiled over at me, and a shuttered, trying to pull away from him.

"Just let me go, plea--"  
"Hey Seifer. Let her be," a new voice tang out, and I turned my head to look over at my savior. Okay, so it was Old Man. Maybe not my knight in shining armour, but a knight in tin foil; it worked for me. Sneering a bit, Seifer removed his arm and walked off, leaving me and Old Man there in silence. He smirked at bit before winking and replying: "You owe me."

I deadpanned and watched him saunter off, blood boiling underneath my skin. What the HELL. Kairi, I swear, I hate him.

AS FOR YOUR BEACH TRIP. Flirt. with. Zack. You're cute, and everyone loves a redhead. He'll stop hanging with Tifa, Tifa will get angry, and then she'll run into Cloud's arms.

THE OF DISCUSSION.

Namine out. ;D

From: Kairi Lockheart

To: Namine Strife

Date: Mar 29, 2009 at 6:49 PM

Subject: Lawl… XD

To my darling Nami,

Currently, I'm packing for tomorrow. Blegh... I'm really nervous. XD I feel like something's gonna happen. Like... not something bad. Something'll just change.  
-shaves Zack's head bald for jerk-o move-

Dude. Is Roxas like. Bisexual then? Because he likes/liked you, yet he goes around with Axel and does God-knows-what... -shivers at thought- EW EW EW. -flails- NEW TOPIC.

And. ZOHMYEFFINGOD. That dude... is SO. GORGEOUS. HOT. SEXY BEAST. -drools over keyboard- WHY WON'T YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?! I feel it. I feel it in my olllldd bonessss. He likes you. He /has/ to! Why else would he save you from creep-o?  
Don't trust that dude. Don't ever go near him again! D: And of course you looked drop-dead gorgeous. Since when didn't you? :)

So you'll come soon? God, I can't wait. I really miss you, Namine. And I can't even imagine how much you miss Morrowind. At least I have friendly and familiar faces.  
I completely forgot about that... oh my god, how old were we, eight?  
Namine, do you really think Sora could like me?  
I mean, I'm scared that as soon as I let him see who I really am, he'll run away. Fast. In a different direction. Towards Selphie. XD

Speaking of which... Wakka and Selphie are still going "strong." You know, no talk, all mouth and tongue and... saliva. It's naturally quite disturbing. Tidus has used his natural bluntness to sometimes stop them, but Sora and I don't dare to say anything. Sora because he's a naturally, lovable, goofy wimp, and me because I'm slightly afraid of Selphie's backstabbing ways. I'm afraid she knows a little too much about me than what I entrust her with...

Did you steal my green Rainbows?! XDDD I can't find them anywhere and I have this uncanny feeling you took them. But no fear! Brown Rainbows are here! -insert superhero theme-

FLIRT WITH ZACK?! Have you gone completely off of your rockers?! I'm like, 99.9% sure he does NOT find me attractive in any way other than attractive as dupe. WHY DID HE PICK US AS HIS VICTIMS? WHY?

I'm taking my laptop so I can give you an update every few hours. Hopefully I can hijack into somebody's interwebz on the island. :]

I love you! BYE!  
Kairi~

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Mar 29, 2009 at 7:54 PM

Subject: .......I am mad at you

Kairi, darling, if you feel something is about to happen, it probably will. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FEMALE INTUITION. I know we've spoken about this before, Kairi darling, but you always seem to distrust it. It knows you besssssst.

......If my Roxie-Foxie is bisexual, I might cry. Dammit, how am I suppose to feel if I decided to make a move, but know he could be cheating on me when he goes to the movies with friends? Oh dear, this situation is too much.

...............KAIRI, YOU HAVE BETRAYED OUR SISTERHOOD. WHOEVER I HATE, YOU HATE TOO, REMEMBER? Thinking that Old Man is sexy is defo going against our moral code. He doesn't like me, and I do not like him. Get it? Good? Good? Great. :D

Of course I'll come soon! Maybe for Spring Break. I'm pretty sure Cloud misses Zack as well. I seriously still don't understand how the two of them were best friends. My brother, bless his soul, is a kind spirit, which Zack is....not. Hence the pie smashing incident. Also, dearest, Sora will NOT run to Selphie, you understand? A, you are much prettier and smarter than Selphie and b, Sora isn't that stupid. I'm sure he'd know when he has a good person in front of him or not. So, I wouldn't worry that much. :3

.....That is so disgusting. Guys only like Selphie because she flaunts her non-existent chest and hips. I mean, hell, Axel has more hip that she does, and he's an eighteen year old male. Wakka just can't get any, so he settles for Selphie. I mean, hello, the guy went out with me. ....Although, Tidus once told me it was to make Roxas jealous. IT OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T WORK.

-Whistles and glances at feet- WhatEVER are you talking about? ....OKAY, FINE. I DID IT. BUT THEY LOOKED SO CUTE WITH MY BROWN TRENCH COAT. -Flails- I'll mail them back to yoooou. I promise.

FLIRT WITH ZACK. Cloud's dating status DEPENDS on it. I depend on it! If Tifa realizes she loves Cloud, Cloud will drive in to see her, and I will beg for Cloud to take me, and then I can see you. UNDERSTAND MY LOGIC? ;D

And you better get Internet. My mom says I'm more glued to this laptop then before. Gee, mom, I WONDER WHY. -.- Anyways, work was hell? Old Man promptly....ignored me. Yes, you read correct. There was no liquid spilling, no tripping, and no making fun. Instead, he kept talking to this really pretty blonde girl who was uber tanned and toned. She looked like an airbrush model.

Blah, I have homework to attend to. Despite it being Friday, the 'rents insist I do it before going anywhere. Olette invited me to go listen to a local band called 'Way to Dawn'. Cheesy name, but I hope they have good music.

With love,

Nami.

From: Kairi Lockheart

To: Namine Strife

Date: Mar 30, 2009 at 10:57 AM

Subject: ...:O -shield!-

Namiiiiiii! I am currently on the island, sitting in a dry spot with my laptop plugged into one of the two power outlets on this island. :D

I don't! -splutter- Not... always... XD Not usually, that is. I guess. I think. OKAY, YOU'RE RIGHT! -huff-  
Is he bisexual? XDD He might be. Hopefully he's not just flat-out GAY, because that would make you.... well... -coughing fit- XDD

WHAT? WHAT?! How can I hate a sexy dude like that who likes my little Namine... :] -runs for the hills-  
Zack and Cloud is like... the most unlikely friendship I've ever heard of. Cloud is calm, stoic and talks softly. Zack is outgoing, obnoxious and talks loudly. It's so... weird. XDD Remember how they became friends? Zack stole Cloud's PB&J and Cloud started crying because it was his special sandwich. Then Zack gave it back. Zack really looks after Cloud, doesn't he? (:

Well... we went on that oh-so-lovely beach trip this morning. -.- Tifa woke me up at six freakin' A.M. so I could tell her which sundress looked best on her… of course she didn't think about asking me last night. -.- So I got ready with the hour left remaining (yes… it took an hour for Tifa to be satisfied) when there was an extremely loud HOOOOOONK outside.

"There they are!" Tifa cried. Her white-and-lavender sundress twirled around, and for once in her life… it actually made her boobs look average sized. I'm a genius. She grabbed our beach bag.

"You know, Tifa… I don't feel so good. Maybe I should stay home." I sat down on my bed. She spun around and glared at me.

"I know what you're doing!" she snarled. I jumped backwards. "You're trying to get out of this because you're going to miss Namine. Well, you miss her either way, so you're coming with us, whether you like it or not."

I gave her my scariest glare as she grabbed my wrist and dragged me down the stairs. HOOOOOOONK.

She threw the door open, her smile without a doubt dazzling the whole van. I don't want to imagine how I looked on her arm… my scary glare had only worsened by the size of the full van.

A door opened and several limbs poured out.

"Hey Teef!" Zack hollered.

"Uhm… how are we gonna fit?" Tifa asked quizzically as Zack jumped out to help us. He was wearing big swim shorts (thank God…) and a loose, white t-shirt.

"Good-morning, starshine!" he greeted me with a malicious grin.

"I brought sharp barbeque knifes," I said in a monotone voice. "Knifes that can cut through fat, muscle and bone."

"She's grumpy," Tifa said quickly. Zack looked at me with wider eyes, tossed our bag in the back, and helped Tifa step in the van.

"It's a little full, so you'll have to sit on somebody's lap," he hinted as he disappeared in the van with a grin.

"Yeah!" I yelled. "Cuz I can totally get in all by myself without dismembering somebody's arm."

"Hey Kairi!" Sora yelled enthusiastically.

"Oh. Hey." I didn't mean for my comment to actually mean anything, but Sora looked eager enough to help me. Then again… he's always high off life, the freak.

He jumped out of the van and screeched to a stop when he saw me.

"You look…" he stammered, and his face turned red, "…uh… really cute."

Whistling came from inside the van.

"Shut up!" Sora yelled at his cronies.

I was wearing a green halter sundress with a second, longer layer that was white. I'd braided my hair into two short braids. Although I was sure my expression was far from cute, his comment made me smile.

"Thanks, Sora."

His face was still bright-red as he helped me in the van. He put his hands together so I could put my foot on them and get in the van correctly. He jumped in after me as I almost bumped my head looking around the van.

It was one of those vans that had the driver and passenger-seat up front and then a separate section for other passengers. There was only one large sliding-door. The seats came almost in a full circle, if it weren't for the door… The circle was Squall with Aerith on his lap (it was really really cute…), Zack with Tifa on his lap (she looked too freaking happy…), Yuffie, Wakka with Selphie on his lap (ew, but thank God they weren't kissing), Tidus, Roxas, and one empty seat where I assumed Sora had been sitting. I'd started to wonder who'd take me on their lap when I realized two people were missing. So I looked at the driver and passenger seat… and screamed in horror.

"WHO THE HELL DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO LET AXEL DRIVE?!"

Axel turned around and grinned at me. Reno, sitting next to him, stuck his tongue out at me and his thumb.

"Axel is actually not bad a driver," Wakka commented.

"'Not bad' my ass…" I muttered.

"Did you mean that literally?" Axel asked, his face feigning innocence.

"Oh, hell, it's ON--!" My hand flew to my foot and I'd just grabbed my flip-flop when Axel decided to back up out of our drive-way as fast as he could… causing me to fall unceremoniously on Tidus' lap.

"HOLY HELL!" Zack hollered. Everyone clung to their seats for dear life as Sora quickly shut the door. Axel took no note of anything and sped on.

Apparently I was the only one who took concern with Axel's insane driving… because Zack kissed Tifa's neck once as he put the seatbelt around both of them. I got disgusted and looked away.

"Psst," Tidus whispered in my ear.

"What?" I hissed back. "Do you want me to get up? Sorry if I'm too heavy for you."

"You're not too heavy for me and you don't have to get up. I just think you should sit elsewhere."

"What?"

"Look at Sora's face."

I did, and he looked strangely sad as he stared at the floor of the van. He was the only one not talking.

"You know… he's been head over heels for you his whole life."

-pauses story so Namine can rejoice in victory-

"What?" I said blankly.

"Shh!" Tidus hissed. "You're hopeless if you didn't notice anything."

"Thanks for the compliment," I snapped.

"Anytime."

Louder he said, "Dangit… my seatbelt looks broken…"

"You suck, Tidus." I looked at Sora. "Sora, does your seatbelt work…?"

He looked at me, surprised.

"Uh... yeah… yeah it does…"

I stood up, wobbling because the van was very unstable, especially with the red-haired maniacs behind the wheel. (…That makes it sound like I'm a maniac too. XD) Sora grabbed my elbow, gently but firmly, so I wouldn't fall.

"Careful," he said, his lips curling up in a grin. I made a face at him. He shifted his legs and put his feet apart. I turned around and quickly sat down so my butt wouldn't be wagging around in his face. He took his seatbelt and put it around us, carefully clicking it into place. I sat leaning forwards for a few minutes. I was silently freaking out, Nami. Did I want this to continue? Or did I want things the same as they'd been before? The answer to question 2 was hell no. With you it would have been good, but without you… the past month had been miserable.

So I leaned backwards gently until I hit his chest. He took a sharp intake of breath, jerking me along with him. Then he exhaled slowly. My body went along with him as he breathed in and breathed out, creating a peaceful rhythm. Tidus watched us from the corner of his eye before turning to Wakka and start talking about some stupid blitzball game. Aerith was happily talking in her quiet voice to Squall, who seemed amused. Zack was resting his chin on Tifa's shoulder, staring at her face in this dreamy way. My mind traveled to a memory that was eight years old, us being seven, the older kids eight, Reno and Axel nine. Who would've thought of this situation here? Certainly not I.

I recognized the Rock Path as we hit rockier terrain. Several minutes later, Axel made a very messy park. Aerith, Squall, Yuffie, Selphie, Wakka, Tidus and Roxas all started to pile out. I fumbled a while for the seatbelt release button.

"Sorry," I stammered.

"Don't be," Sora said.

I finally found the damned button and we got out of the van. Which, I must add, stood crookedly on the middle of two parking spots.

"You call this a park?!" I yelled at Axel. "The white lines mark separate spots, dumbass!"

"Not my problem," Axel called over his shoulder, leading the way towards the boats. I stood by the van for a few seconds, fuming at his casual response.

"C'mon, Kairi," Sora laughed. "Don't let Axel get you mad."

I sighed. "You're right."

"Aren't I always?"

He ducked laughing as I swung my arm in his direction.

"They're gonna leave for the island without us if we don't hurry," Sora said.

"Come on, then!" I grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the docks. Luckily, Squall was merciful (unlike Zack, who was trying to push off the boat so we'd have to jump on the boat and hopefully fall in the water), and let us get on. By the look of Axel's scowl, I think he was planning on dunking me underwater.

After we'd tied up the boats by the docks on the island, we clambered out and started to set up camp. There were two other skulky teenagers, but I'm pretty sure a collaborated effort of Zack and Axel scared them back to mainland. After that, we had the whole island to ourselves.

"Uh-oh…" Tifa said, releasing Zack's hand.

"What?" I snarled, a little peeved by the sight of them holding hands.

"I accidentally left our tent at home."

Dear God. Something in her innocent voice and large eyes made me think she hadn't "accidentally" left it home at all.

I secretly looked at her hand; she was still wearing her abstinence ring.

"Where am I supposed to sleep then?"

"With Selphie?"

I gagged loudly.

"Can't I sleep with Aerith?" I hissed.

"Didn't know you were into lesbianism, Kai," Zack joked.

"Go underwater and walk to mainland," I snapped.

"She's sharing a tent with Yuffie, though," Tifa pointed out.

Selphie started to walk in our direction, so we shut up.

"What's wrong, Kairi?" she said in that annoying, nasal voice of hers.

"Nothing," I said, trying to smile at her, but I felt it twist into a grimace. "Tifa just forgot our tent."

"Ohhh," she said. Then she giggled. "You can share /my/ tent, Kai. We can talk all night long."

SHNIKEMSHTICKEMPLUR.

"Sounds fun," I grinned.

I then helped her set up her tent. She was blabbering to me about her and Wakka… like I cared.

By the time everybody had camp set up, it was 10:30 A.M.

...I HAVE TO GO. PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO TAKE MY BENCH AND ITS DANGEROUS TO TYPE NOW.

TO BE CONTINUED.

DUN DUN DUNNN.

LOVE YOU.

Kairi.

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Mar 30, 2009 at 12:02 PM

Subject: -Can't process anything-

.......................................

............................................

.................................................

...................................................

......................................................

I.

FREAKING.

KNEW.

IT.

Hahahaahahaha! Tidus has just HAPPILY fufilled my life-long dream. I KNEW Sora has loved you ever since, well, EVER. But no, don't ever listen to little Namine because she never knows WHAT THE HELL SHE IS TALKING ABOUT. -Deep breath- But Kairi, ohmygosh, I can't believe this! -Squeals in excitement- You actually sat on his lap! Ohmygosh, I bet he was the color of a tomato or worse. And Axel probably set the entire thing up and AND AND AND AND--

Kairi, I can not begin to express my joy. OHMYGOD, KAIRIANDSORASITTINGINATREE, KISSINGLALALAA -Falls over-

......EW. Gross. Selphie and you in a tent. Ewwwww. She BETTER NOT BE TAKING OVER AS 'BEST FRIEND'. Kidding, doll, kidding. I hope your evening went a lot better than mine. First of all, operation TaKe!DoWn has met a few problems.

1, Old Man/Riku is very sexy when singing in a band. Yes, you heard me. I called him sexy, but he's still a JERK. Anyways, this was basically my second time encountering him today. Not fun. I will begin to explain this topic in further detail:

"Nami, you look amazing," Olette said in a breathy tone, just having walked up the five thousand flights of stairs to reach our apartment. She was dressed in a cute khaki miniskirt, black halter top, and darling kitten heels. Her usual brown, wavy locks were pulled into a high ponytail with a few messy strands in her face. Classy, without the trashy as you would say. Offering her a weak smile, I glanced down at my own striped black and grey sweater dress and nervously adjusted the belt around my waist, "Think so?"

"Know so," Hayner interjected, slinging an arm around Olette, which caused the brunette girl to blush deeply. He had previously asked her out that day, but Olette was still a little bit shy around him when it came to PDA. Pence was standing behind the couple, munching contently on some BBQ chips and waiting impatiently for me to walk out of my apartment. With a sigh, I locked the door and tossed my hair to my back.

Yes, Kairi, I actually wore my hair DOWN and not brushed onto my shoulder. Be happy for once.

All four of us piled into Pence's car, me being in the front and Olette and Hayner having the back to themselves. Pence and I tried to make conversation and ignore the moaning and sucking noises coming from the backseat. It was basically disgusting, but not nearly as bad as watching Selphie and her manwhores suck face. After a rather silent drive--from Pence and I--we pulled up into the coffee shop and unloaded ourselves from the car. Once inside, I ordered a mocha latte--yum--and boredly counted how many couples were in the room. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against the booth cushion and started to fall asleep. Maybe a good twenty minutes later, my ears picked up someone announcing the band, and suddenly a soft, velety tone caressed my ears. I didn't even want to open my eyes as soft cords of bass guitar mixed in with the heavenly voice, but they slowly cracked wide as Pence jabbed me with his elbow and hissed, "Sleeping is rude."

Hah, never thought that 'lil Rolly-Polly was a prude. Whatever. I slowly dragged my vision over to the stage and felt my jaw drop to the ground.

Old.

Man.

Was.

The.

One.

With.

The.

Sexy.

Voice.

And.

Mad.

Guitar.

Skills.

Needlessly put, I couldn't stop gawking for the rest of the night. And when he caught glimpse that I was there afterwards, he smirked and made an effort to embarrass me and my expression. I WAS NOT OGLING HIM, DAMMIT.

....Okay, maybe a bit. BUT I STILL HATE HIM. Moving on.

2, I think Cloud is falling for some chick he met last week. I neglected to tell you because I didn't think she was a big threat until I saw them making out in the parking lot of our apartment when I came home tonight. And, uh, it was pretty gross. AND CLOUD HAD SOME FREAKISH GROWTH SPURT I FORGOT TO MENTION. Like, he's maybe around 5'10 now. ....In, what, two months? Or something ridiculous like that. Anyways, this chick is one of those really spirited people that you hate to love and she's super pretty, too. Actually, she realllly reminds me of Tifa, minus her rack and backside. Her name is Riona Heartilly and, apparently, they both are into playing acoustic guitar and writing song lyrics, although I'm positive her's are much happier than his. Haha, speaking of emo lyrics, I wrote Cloud one and told him he should compose a tune. It went like this:

_Am I not emo enough?_

_Are my wrist not open?_

_Do I cry too much?_

_I am not outspokeeeeeen._

_I will never laugh._

_I won't try it harder._

_Why am I so emoooo?_

_I bleed, I steal, all of my sister's eyeliner--_

_I write, poetry, about her best friend's sister--_

And yeah. He basically shot me when he saw that. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, KAIRI. We worried about Tifa so much that we forgot that Cloud has a penis and is kind of attractive. -Flails-

S.O.B.H.B.

SAVE OUR BLONDE HAIRED BABIES!

Love, Namine.

_**To our readers… WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE OVER TWENTY OF YOU. We want at least 5 more reviews or there shall be no update! XDD**_


	5. Take 5

**Take F I V E**

From: Kairi Lockhart

To: Namine Strife

Date: Apr 14, 2009 at 8:47 PM

Subject: -karatechops way through door-

My dear Namine;

As you know, it is currently morning. Pretty early in the morning, I  
might add. And yes. I am a genius. (Not really… XD) We watched X-men…  
all THREE of them. It was actually muchos cozy. I was propped between  
Tidus and Sora on the sand, which was warm and comfy, but it started  
to get ubercold. D: So then Sora lent me his hoodie… and so on and so  
forth. XD It smells nice. It's a little big though. XD I think I might  
steal it. -has been wearing it for the past 16 hours- Nothing too  
eventful happened, besides the fact that I fell asleep on Sora's  
shoulder. When I woke up, I was on Tidus' shoulder though, so I guess  
my head was lolling around.

As for OM/Riku... he sounds really hot. -drools over keyboard- I want  
a picture. I want his Facebook. I WANT HIS UNDERWEAR! (I kid, I kid...  
I'm sure you want it though ;D) And if you don't like him... why do  
you keep talking about him? And yes... that borders on fangirl. XD

And shit. That really is a problem. -facepalm- Have you seen him with  
this girl or was it just a random hook-up?! -flails- Install security  
cameras! Go Spy Kid on him! S.O.B.H.B.!  
I can't believe you told him that......... -falls off bed laughing-  
Dear God. Poor Cloud's face must have been burning. I'm surprised he  
didn't have a nosebleed. Admit it, what does a guy think when you talk  
about a baby? Yes. My point exactly.

"They're cute, aren't they," Selphie said to me as she, Sora, Tidus  
and I were walking around the island. [By this time, it was probably  
about three in the morning.]  
"Who?" I asked.  
"Zack and Tifa."  
I made a face.  
"Tifa would've been cuter with someone else."  
"Who?"  
"Cloud Strife."  
Selphie started laughing.  
"What's so funny?"  
"Nothing. It's just so… weird."  
"Why is it weird?" My voice was becoming defensive.  
"Because Strifey's weird. That whole family is weird."  
"So you're saying Namine's weird?!"  
Selphie turned to look at me with alarmed eyes.  
"N-no, that's not what I—"  
"That's exactly what you said."  
"Kai, calm down. Selphie, shut the hell up." Tidus grabbed my arm  
and pulled me away from her.  
"It's not my fault that she hangs out with freaks," Selphie scowled at me.  
I lunged at her. Tidus and Sora grabbed my arms and slung me back.  
"Selphie, go dry-hump Wakka or something!" Tidus yelled. "Just stop  
pissing people off."  
Selphie gave a scary glare at Wakka, then turned around and stomped  
back to camp. I kicked the sand. The wind took it away.  
"Don't listen to Selphie," Sora told me. "She talks about everybody  
behind their backs."  
"What does she say about me?" I asked him.  
"Uhh…" He paused. "She just makes up rumors about you."  
I bit down so hard on the inside of my lip that I tasted blood.  
"Blegh. I don't even wanna know."  
The three of us continued to walk around the island.  
"How's Namine doing?" Tidus asked.  
"Pretty good. She's made some friends. She's verbally sparring with  
this one guy. She's losing royally though." I laughed. (DON'T HURT  
ME!)  
"I miss her," Sora said, kicking a rock into the water.  
"Me, too." I bit the inside of my lip again.  
"Tifa and Zack are a weird couple," Tidus randomly commented.  
"Huh?" Sora and I looked at him.  
"Like… Iono. I thought Zack would end up with Aerith. Or something.  
And that Tifa would end up with that Strife-kid. I liked him a lot."  
I suddenly got an idea. When we were little, we used to play in  
those secret caves, remember Nami? It was like, the secret of the  
sophomores, seeing as the ones in the pact were you, me, Tidus, Sora,  
and Wakka.  
"Guys!" I hissed.  
"What?" Tidus hissed back and Sora whispered, blinking stupidly.  
"Do you remember the secret caves? With the weird door that we  
weren't strong enough to open?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What about them?"  
"Let's try and open the door!"  
Tidus looked excited, but Sora stared at me with widening eyes.  
"Uh…" he said. "I don't think that's a good idea." His voice cracked  
on 'think.'  
"What? Why?" Tidus demanded.  
"Uhm… the caves…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "The  
caves they… didn't they almost collapse? On Wakka? That time?" His  
voice went up an octave.  
"What are you talking about." Tidus grabbed my wrist and started  
dragging me in the direction of the caves. "C'mon, Kairi, let's get  
that door open."  
"N-no! I'm coming! Guys! Wait up!"  
Sora caught up with us. We went along the pathway. There were thick  
cobwebs in front of the entrance. Tidus swatted them away. To be  
honest, Nami, it was quite creepy. I was hiding behind Tidus, holding  
his shoulders, while Sora was hiding behind me, holding my shoulders.  
It was eerily dark. Moonlight shone through the hole in the ceiling.  
"Hellooooo?" Tidus said like an idiot. I hit him in the head.  
"Tidus! Don't entice any creepers!"  
"This is a bad idea."  
"Since when are you such a wuss, Sora?"  
"I'm not a wuss!" Sora hissed at me. "I just think that this place  
is kinda creepy, besides, it's really late, I'm tired, anyone else  
tired, aren't you tired, Kairi?"  
"There's the door!"  
Sora suddenly ran forward and leaned against the rocks next to the door.  
"Are you hiding something?" I said, cocking my head to look at him  
quizzically.  
"Nooooo," he said. He laughed shakily. "Let's just… open that door?  
And leave? ASAP?"  
I looked at Tidus, he shrugged at me.  
"Okay. So I twist the handle. Sora, grab me around my waist and pull  
as hard as you can. Kairi, you grab Sora and pull. Okay?"  
"Gotcha." I firmly latched my arms around Sora's waist. He gave an  
involuntary jerk when I poked him.  
"PULL!" Tidus yelled. I pulled Sora back with all my strength;  
something in the door cracked. I set my feet apart and pulled Sora  
back even farther. Sora grunted. The door cracked again, and then, the  
three of us flew backwards. I was slammed against the rock wall, Sora  
was slammed into me slamming into the wall, and Tidus was slammed into  
Sora slamming into me slamming into the wall. Needless to say, it hurt  
quite a lot.  
"OW!"  
I rubbed the back of my head as Sora hastily got off of me. The door  
was open, and there was a deep black chasm in it.  
"It's open!" I gasped. Sora quickly got up and stood next to it. I  
could've sworn it looked like he was hiding something on the rock  
wall.  
"Let's not go in there."  
"Why not?" Tidus and I demanded.  
"Because something dead's probably in there." Sora shivered.  
"You're such a pansy," Tidus complained.  
"I am not!" Sora hissed. "I'm the only one who seems to care about  
our lives, apparently."  
"Oh, hush." I started inside the dark cave.  
"Kairi!" Sora grabbed my hand, trying to pull me back.  
"Come on, Sora!" I pulled him along. His hand was nice and warm and  
seemed to fit naturally around mine.  
"Hey, wait!" Tidus put his hands on Sora's shoulders and I led them  
into the chasm. It was really dark and scary, to be completely honest.  
We walked in silence for the longest time until I hit a large rock.  
"OW!"  
"Kairi?!"  
"Kairi, are you okay?!"  
"I think so… I'm a little light-headed…"  
"Did you hit your head?"  
"Sit down."  
"I'm fine, guys… Oops… I think I'm bleeding a little…"  
"Okay, let's go back."  
"What?!"  
"I agree with Sora. It's enough for today, Kairi. We'll come back  
when it's light outside."  
"I hate you both…"  
"Love you too, Kai. Turn around and let's go."  
So we left the chasm and returned to the cave. Tidus closed the door again.  
"Jeez, you are bleeding," Sora said, his eyes widening. "Are you  
alright, Kairi?" I felt my forehead. There was a small jagged line by  
my hairline.  
"Yeah. I feel fine. Let's just get back to camp before Selphie  
thinks we drowned in the sea." Not like she'd care.  
We stumbled back to camp. Luckily it was full moon and we could a  
little ahead of us. When we got back to camp, it seemed as if nobody  
had bothered to go into their tents, and even the few that had made it  
that far didn't bother to close the front, leaving it gaping open for  
the world to see them. I made out the forms of various people. Selphie  
was laying on Wakka (both fully clothed, thank god) and drooling on  
his chest.  
"Yuck," Tidus said. "I always knew Selphie was a drooler."  
I cleared my throat nervously. As we all remember from the  
paint-incident (cuz everybody but us knows that you shouldn't paint a  
room when you're planning on sleeping in it that night), I'm an avid  
drooler when it comes to deep sleeping.  
"Why don't we just sleep on the beach?" I quickly changed the subject.  
Tidus and Sora paused.  
"Uh," Tidus said. "Because that makes us vulnerable to pranks?"  
I scowled.  
"Alright, fine."  
"Noooo," Tidus said. Then he sighed. "I didn't mean to be a killjoy.  
Let's just do it. Worst case scenario, I'm bald, Sora's naked and  
you're hanging from a tree, completely wrapped in ductape."  
Sora and I glanced at each other with wide eyes.  
"What're you standing around for?" Tidus demanded. "Get your  
freaking sleeping bags."  
We warily obeyed. I was probably the most freaked-out of the three  
of us, seeing as Tidus was fearless and Sora probably just too  
oblivious to know how serious Zack takes his pranks. Remember when he  
put a fake tattoo on my arm and bandaged it, which led me to think it  
was real for the next 24 hours? Yeah. That incident was fresh in my  
mind.  
We're on our way back to the mainland now. TTYL, dearest. (:  
Kairi~

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockhart

Date: Apr 14, 2009 at 8:47 PM

Subject: ATTACK OF NINJA KAIRI

To the Lovely Kairi,

For sixteen hours? Mhhm, right, you and him are totally going to hook up by the end of the day. I mean, who the hell wears someone's hoodie for almost an entire day? Kairi Lockhart, that's who. AND DON'T DENY YOUR FEEEELLLINGS. Ask. him. out. now. or. else. I. will. for. you. Is that clear, missy? I KNOW HIS EMAIL ADDRESS. DON'T THINK I DON'T! .....Also, am I sensing some 'somethin-somethin for Tidus? -Nudge- I'm kidding. At least, I hope I'm kidding. o.o Do you like Tidus, too? GAH, KAIRI, YOU'RE SO CONFUSING. It's a good thing you're my best friend.

-Flails wildly- Why do I keep talking about OM? Let's see: HE'S ALWAYS THERE. LITERALLY. I go into work, ah! THERE IS THE OLD MAN. I go to Chemistry class; THERE IS THE OLD MAN. I try to go listen to local bands; THERE IS THE OLD MAN. It's almost like he STALKS me. Okay, sure, I'll admit that he is a sexy beast, but his attitude is....ick. AND I DO NOT WANT HIS UNDERWEAR. What are you, insane? And you've SEEN a picture, Kairi. However, if you wish to harass him via text message, go right ahead; I have his digits for our Chem lab.

Uh, YA THINK SO? -Flails- I don't know what to do. Cloud is always with her. I hate to admit this, but.....SHE'S BEAUTIFUL. Long legs, pale skin, highlighted brown hair, soulful brown eyes, slightly curvy; beautiful. S.O.B.H.B. is in a serious pickle. START TELLING TIFA ABOUT CLOUD'S WONDERFUL FEATURES. Or, or--DUDE, I KNOW. Remember that one song Cloud wrote for Tifa but never gave to her? The really pretty one? Yeah, I'm attaching it. PLAY IT FOR HER. My brother can sing, y'know, decently. THIS IS OUR LAST RESORT. DOES ZACK SING HER SONGS? PROBABLY NOT.

....Selphie called me weird? She called my entire FAMILY weird? Oh no, bish, lemme at her. Thanks for almost ripping her to pieces for me. :] ....o.o The caves? Ohmygod, Kairi, are you alright? Don't try to open those doors again. D: I don't want you getting hurt. But if you attempt it again, at least take a flashlight! -Shiver- I don't need to be worrying about your safety! -Contacts Sora to make sure you don't try it again- And aw! On the beach! That is SO CUTE. And I remember that tattoo incident.....-laughs- Of course I didn't think it was funny ^^''. Zack can be such an asshole. I don't see what Tifa likes so much about him. ....It must be his hair. Well, at least you had a better day that I did. At work, Old Man was there flirting with that other girl again. Not like I care, but it's annoying when you have to make all the coffee yourself. I swear, I'm going to try and get him fired.

Anyways, when I got home, the situation wasn't any better. Cloud was sitting on the couch with Rinoa, legs stretched out and writing down something in a notebook. Rinoa's legs were on top of his, and she was kinda read a book/taking peeks at my brother. I untied my apron and placed it on the coat hanger, eyes still glued to my brother and his...girlfriend...thing. Finally noticing me, Cloud offered a small smile and nudged Rinoa a bit.

"Namine, this is Rinoa. Rinoa, this is Namine, my little sister. Rinoa is my...uh....--"

"Girlfriend," replied Rinoa with a smile, and I could feel the blood underneath my skin boiling. Oh boy.

"Really? That's wonderful," I said through gritted teeth and walked rather violently upstairs. I tossed my body onto my bed, and stared at my laptop, contemplating if I should harass you via email or not. Suddenly, my phone vibrated inside my pocket, and I nearly gave myself a heart attack. "Holy crap," I mumbled, and pulled out my electronic device. Weird, I didn't recognize the number. Pressing the green answer key, I placed the phone to my ear and mumbled, "Hello?"

"You aren't seriously asleep at 2 in the afternoon on a Saturday, right?" I froze. I knew that voice. It was the one that aggravated me every moment in Chemistry class.

"What do you want?" I snapped rather viciously, rolling over on my back.

"We have a lab to work on."

"So?"

"So," he continued, "you're coming over to my house so we can work on it. I'll text you the address. Be here for five, and tell your ride to get you for 9."

My eyes narrowed and I shot up, "Who said I could work on it today?"

An annoyed sigh came from the phone, "Just be here, okay? I don't want this to effect my grade because of you."

"HEY," I protested, "I'm--" and there was a clicking noise on the other end. Did he....did he just hang up on me? Oh no, it was beat down time. "Ugh!" I grunted and moved over to my dresser.

So, yes. I am currently getting ready to go to his house and work on the freaking lab. Oh, wait, Cloud just knocked on my door--time to go. I love you and say prayers for meeee.

Love Nami.

From: Kairi Lockhart

To: Namine Strife

Date: Apr 21, 2009 at 9:01 PM

Subject: YOU KNOW IT. -does complicated... attack. thing.-

To my Nami;

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS. BUT YOU'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH.  
-still wearing Sora's hoodie- Heh heh heh...

Namine and Riku, sitting in a tree... TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME, DARLING. ;D As for Tidus... what in the world is in your head?! I mean, Tidus is really hot... -pauses a moment to think of glorious tan abs and messy blond hair- but I don't think it'd work. Like... I dunno. XD I've only thought about Tidus as an amazingly hott friend who I would be head over heels for would it not be for... a certain somebody. -foreshadowing here-  
Ugh. I'm so. Tired. So yes. I came home today. After the most amazing day I've had in a longgggg time :)) Mwa. I bet you're getting ready to shoot me. XP

Oh god. D: -shoots this beautiful Rinoa Heartilly in the foot- Dewd. Tifa is sexy. And beautiful. And funny. And charming. And gorgeous. And fascinating. And... totally unaware of Cloud's existance at this point in time? -shot- Somehow... they must meet again. I'm sure that if Cloud actually started talking to her she'd realize that he actually is a great guy.  
And, I must admit that Zack is a changed man. He's a lot calmer, less immature, and it almost looks like he /loves/ Tifa. -pukes in bushes- Pshh. We here have no mercy for Zack, whether he's nicer or not. WE WANT CLOTI! WE WANT CLOTI! And S.O.B.H.B. -goes to make buttons for the cause-

I woke up this morning because my feet were cold. I woke up further and noticed that they were cold because cold water was in my sleeping bag. The next moment I screamed very loudly, because the water was up to my waist all of a sudden. And no, it wasn't a prank. The tide was simply coming in.  
My scream instantly woke up Sora and Tidus, who then started joining me with yelling and flailing and fleeing out of the freezing cold water. Meanwhile, we'd woken everybody up. Zack seemed incredibly pissed for the first three minutes, but then realized that he could sleep later and make-out with Tifa now. I can't imagine their morning breath...  
We didn't have much of a breakfast, because Reno and Wakka had gotten hungry in the middle of the night and eaten most of our biscuits, to the annoyance of nearly everyone. Selphie made several attempts to talk to me, but I ignored her.  
"What the hell is her problem!" Selphie sneered later on to Tidus.  
"You know she's an avid grudge-holder. You ought to have remembered that before insulting her best friend," Tidus snarled at her. I guess I wasn't the only one who was getting annoyed by Selphie. To my dismay, our group seemed to have split even further. Starting out as you, me, Selphie, Roxas, Sora, Tidus, Wakka, you left and today the final splits were made. Selphie seemed to have condemned me, and we both know that the boys are led by us girls. I think Wakka and Tidus had an argument about it, because I heard yelling voices, and then Tidus and Wakka stomped off angrily in opposite directions. The group was now me, Sora, and Tidus, and then there were Selphie and Wakka.  
Roxas came later, and he looked very surprised when we weren't sitting by each other.  
"Seriously, guys, what happened?"  
"Selphie's being a self-conceited bitch and we're sick and tired of it." Tidus kicked a large rock into the ocean. I stopped packing for a moment.  
"It's not that big of a deal," I said placidly. (I'm such a freak for being angry and once we split trying to smooth things over. XD) "Selphie said some bad stuff about Namine, and that's all."  
"No, Kairi, that's not all." Tidus kicked the sand up in the wind and continued his own packing. Roxas got uncomfortable and started drifting away.  
"Then what else did she say?"  
"None of your damned business."  
For a few seconds I stood there in disbelief. I recomposed myself.  
"FINE." Cuz we all know that "fine" truly means "Eff off and DIE." I zipped my duffel bag closed and was going to toss it on the baggage pile when Tidus grabbed my wrist.  
"What?" I snapped. I sounded a bit more hurt than I wanted him to know.  
Tidus sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, Kai. I didn't mean it that w--"  
"Then how did you mean it?"  
"What I really mean is... I was just getting irritated and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."  
I rolled my eyes. "You're lucky you're cuter than Selphie."  
He grinned crookedly at me, but there was something weird about it. It wasn't a genuine grin. I dropped my duffel bag and tackled him with a hug.  
"Thank you so much for sticking up for me," I said softly.  
"I thought that's what friends were for?" he said jokingly as he hugged me back.  
"El-oh-el." I released him and lovingly smacked his head. He continued packing. Sora returned to us from throwing his duffel bag on the pile.  
"Guys, we're going soon!"  
"Aw. Alright."  
Tidus zipped up his duffelbag and held out his arm. "May I escort thee, my fair lady, to the boat?"  
"Thou may, my kind sir." I curtsied to him, the wind without a doubt making my hair very dramatic. I noticed Sora was looking a bit uncomfortable (and, I happily noted, a bit jealous too...) and I gave him an extravagant curtsy. "My dear gentleman, could you maybe escort me as well? I am quite afraid of sand... 'tis so sandy, you see."  
Sora laughed, and with my arm looped around Tidus' arm and Sora's as we walked to the boat, I felt very happy to have such friends.

We'd just gotten to the mainland, when I realized with growing horror... that I'd left my bag on the island.  
"Shit, Kairi!" Zack swore for the third time.  
"I'm sorry!" I yelled. "How many times do you want me to tell you that I'm sorry?!"  
Zack let his head fall backwards and stared at the heavens as if he was asking God for advice. Oh sure, like he needed God's help to navigate his way back to the island.  
"Okay. Everybody stay here. I'll take Kairi back to the island and get her bag. Then we'll all leave together. Everybody who doesn't stay here gets to walk home. Savvy?"  
There were grumbles of agreement.  
"Come on, Kairi." Zack grabbed my arm and dragged me to the boat.  
"Aye, Captain Sparrow," I grumbled.  
"Thanks alot for not only delaying everything, but making me go get your stupid bag instead of sitting with your sister."  
"HEY! Don't blame this on me, numb-nuts! Might I remind you that you're the one dragging me to the island? Believe me, I'd almost kill to go back with somebody other than the likes of YOU."  
"FINE. Find somebody else to row you back."  
"FINE."  
"FINE."  
"FINE!"  
Zack stomped back up the hill to the van.  
"What's going on?" I heard Tifa say confused.  
"Any volunteers to bring the forgetful brat back to the island?!" Zack yelled.  
"I'm sorry, Zackie-pooh, it's me, not YOU, who needs to go back to the island."  
"I'll go," Tidus shrugged.  
"I'll go with her," Sora said loudly.  
Tidus looked weirdly at Sora.  
"What?"  
"Are you strong enough to row you two over there?"  
Sora's face turned bright-red.  
"Yes." He gave Tidus an angry look.  
"You sure?" Tidus teased.  
"YES." He stormed past him and stepped in the boat.  
"BE RIGHT BACK," I yelled. "TIFA! TEEF! DON'T LET THEM LEAVE WITHOUT US!"  
"Hey Sora!" Roxas yelled.  
"What?"  
"You sure?"  
"YES!" Sora shouted and my hair started to envy the color of his face.  
"You sure?!"  
"You suuuure, buddy?" Tidus laughed hysterically when Sora threw the paddle at him. He then had to get in the water to retrieve it and swim back. I laughed and shook my head at him as I helped him back in the boat, soaking wet.  
"What?!" he demanded.  
"You're cute," I said, shaking my head.  
Well, that definitely rendered him silent for the rest of our little trip to the island. We got back on the island just as the sun was setting. I knew exactly where I'd left my duffel bag (by the rocks where Tidus had been packing), but Sora found it necessary to follow me, his face still a little flushed.  
"Hey, Sora?" I said, turning to look at him after I slung my duffel bag over my shoulder.  
"Hmm?" He looked at me, raising his eyebrows a bit. I stepped towards him, breaking the invisible bubble that separates friends from... more than friends. His eyes widened a little, confused, and he prepared to step back and restore the bubble.  
"What would you do if I said I liked you?"  
Sora was speechless for a moment, his face shocked. He gave his head a little shake, as if to clear his mind.  
"Uh... what?"  
"What would you do if I said I liked you? More than... just a friend?"  
He paused, then his face broke into a smile.  
"I'm probably going crazy."  
"No, you're not." I felt myself smile too. "Well?"  
"Well... I'd... I'd..." He gave a small and nervous laugh. "I'd probably tell you how I really feel about you."  
"I like you," I said softly. "I like you a lot. For a while now. I feel really stupid about it, but I didn't realize how much and how long I liked you until Namine told me." I grabbed his hands and took another slow step forwards. Wow, I was being brave.  
Sora laughed softly.  
"I guess it's my turn now," he said quietly. "Well, I've... I've liked you since forever. Since you moved here when you were three. I didn't know it then, but you were always my favorite. Why else would I let you pick on me and steal my stuff?"  
I laughed.  
"Oh my God, I was a horrible little brat."  
"No, you weren't." Sora smiled at me. He leaned forwards and put his forehead against mine. "I still can't believe this..."  
I heard myself giggle.  
"You're such a dork."  
"I know."  
"Oh, really?"  
"Yes. I'm also stupid and naive."  
"I can't disagree with that."  
"Some tell me I'm cute."  
"I definitely can't disagree with that."  
Then I raised my face and kissed him. Stop squealing, Nami, it's not that big of a deal. XDD Okay, it is. But still. You should've seen it coming. XDD  
He put his arms around me and started to kiss me back. I'm not going to go into too much detail (not like anything besides kissing happened! But somehow I don't think you want every little detail XD). I didn't notice, but the sun had gone down and it was completely dark when all of a sudden, there was hollering coming from the sea. A giant flashlight cast a bright beam on us and we broke apart, only to get blinded by it's light.  
"HOLY CRAP!" I heard Zack yell. "DID YOU SEE THAT, SQUALL?! PLEASE TELL ME YOU SAW THAT!"  
There was loud yelling and whistling coming from the second boat.  
"Get in your boat!" yelled Zack, still laughing. "Holy crap... it only took him, what, thirteen years?!"  
"Shuddup!" Sora laughed and pushed Zack. Zack caught Sora in a headlock and started to scruff up his hair.  
"LEMME GO, LEMME GO!"  
I laughed and turned around to tell Tifa, but I caught a glimpse of Selphie. She was glaring daggers at me. I frowned, then she turned to Wakka and started tracing circles on his stomach.  
Another one in a not-so-good mood was Tidus. Later when we were driving back home (I was sitting on Sora's lap again, but this time he had his arms around me :3), Tidus pretended to be asleep.  
"Tidus, what's wrong?" I asked him.  
"Hmm?" he said. "Oh. Nothing. Tired. That's all." And he didn't say anything to me the rest of the way home.  
When the van stopped by our house, Tifa and Zack got off and proceeded to say a long goodbye. I got off, grabbed my duffel bag, and was about to walk towards the house when Sora called my name.  
"Kairi!"  
"Huh?" I turned around.  
Sora ran towards me and hugged me.  
"Nothing. That's all." He smiled and jumped back in the van, ignoring the whistles of Wakka and Reno with a happy grin. Tifa and Zack gave one last embrace before the van left. Tifa instantly turned to me and dragged me inside.  
"I WANT TO HEAR EVERYTHING," she squealed.

Urgh. Sisters can be so bothersome. Especially ones that are nosy, overromantic and obsessed with "Titanic." -shot-

After I'd told Tifa everything there was to tell, she decided she was going to French-braid my hair.  
"Tifa," I said, "did you know that Cloud Strife's got a girlfriend?"  
She paused for a moment.  
"No," she said, pretending not to be curious.  
"Her name's Rinoa Heartilly. She looks just like you, it's weird."  
"Oh." She obviously cared. "Does he... like her?"  
"Yep. Not much for conversation though, I imagine. All they've been doing is kissing." Lie. I think. XD  
"That's not a way to build a relationship," Tifa snapped.  
"I agree," I said, thinking of Selphie. We were quiet for a while.  
"You know what's funny," I said absent-mindedly, "is that Cloud sat next to you in biology for the past two years, your Pre-Alg class in eighth grade, your music and social studies classes in fifth and sixth grade, come to our house at least a bagillion times in the hope of getting to talk to you, and now that he's moved away with a girlfriend, you finally get an interest in the guy."  
Tifa stopped altogether.  
"What?"  
"You heard me."  
"Cloud Strife... had a crush on me?"  
HE FREAKING IS IN LOVE WITH YOU, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but I didn't. Because I shouldn't.  
"Yes, my dear and oblivious sister."  
"Oh my god..." She sank on her bed, a shocked expression on her face. "I'm so... STUPID."  
"Agreed. You really should start paying more attention to the world." I yawned. "Well, nothing you can do about it now. You've got Zack, and he's got his beautiful Rinoa. Who's like you, but pays attention to him and actually is aware of the fact that he exists." Tifa gave me an angry glare, then looked away.  
"What the hell is wrong with me?" she said softly. "I shouldn't even care about this information! I barely know the guy! Besides, I'm... happy with Zack."  
"Hmm. Mhmm. That's definitely the reason you're thinking about Cloud right now."  
"Shush."  
"Yes, ma'am."  
Tifa continued to braid my hair, and think about Cloud without a doubt.

-highfives-  
MAIL ME BACK ASAP. :D  
Love.  
Kairi.

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockhart

Date: Apr 23, 2009 at 8:53 PM

Subject: You render me speechless, Mr. Darcy.

My dearest Kairi,

Ohmygosh, woah, timeout here cowgirl. All this newly discovered information is too much for my blond head. You KISSED HIM?!? OHMYGOD. -Insert massive flailing- Was he a good kisser? Did you blush one thousand shades of red? You may have given me a detailed report, but I'm calling you tonight! I see it now: You, all clad in a stunning white gown designed by moi; me, wearing a not-nearly-as-stunning-but-still-stunning pale blue bridesmaid dress with a black trim around the waist to signify that I was your maid of honor. Tifa will wear a dress akin to mine in a deeper shade of blue since she is so much more tan than I am. I would walk down the aisle with Tidus, since he is Sora's BFF. Tifa would be escorted in by my brother, who would look dashing in a suit. We'd all wait on the side of the alter and stare as the wedding march started up, and you'd enter with your papi. Sora would turn Titanic Style and grin, and I'd wink. Then you two would get get hitched and kiss passionately. We'd party, I'd catch your bouquet, and then you two would go off to your honeymoon to do 'sumthin 'sumthin. ;D ;D ;D KIDDING! I know you aren't a Selphie.

So you're taken! Gah, we're no longer like the twix deal. Y'know, buy one packet and get the double deal. xD But not anymore! D: Now I am going to be a 3rd wheel who will be sitting there awkwardly as you two exchange saliva. WHY ARE ALL MY FRIENDS TAKEN? You, Olette, Sora, Roxas, Hayner, Wakka, Axel, Squall, Aerith, Tifa, -continues rant-.

I'm the only single one 'sides Pence and Tidus! And, ew, I am not even considering dating either one. BUT! On a /slightly/ happier note, Cloud made two new friends! He's, like, tall and muscular and absolutely delicious. Just picture it: spiky black hair((think Cloud but only spiked in the back), pale skin, broad shoulders, dark blue eyes(they change colors with what he's wearing o.o), and he's an actor. So 'fuggin hot I tell you. Sadly, he is /friends with benefits/ with Cloud's other friend. But, uh, his name is Noctis, but his friends call him Storm. I, on the other hand, call him Knocked Up Noctis. His friends-with-benefits/Cloud's other friend is named Stella. Okay, so I have come to a conclusion; everyone here is good looking. I mean, in Morrowind the only pretty girls were Tifa, Aerith, and--of course--you. I FEEL SO PLAIN.

Stella, like all other chicks here, looks like a model. Tan, perfect skin, sandy blond hair, hazel eyes, and nice curves--beautiful. Excuse me while I sulk. Oh, I also need to buy your birthday present. It's someones birthday soon. -Nudge nudge wink wink- Bah, so you're probably like, "Nami, dear, I love your babbling, but tell me. what. happened. with. OM."

So, yeah. I think I am royally screwed. Why? Because despite my relentless attempts at trying to hate him, I think I like him. o.o WHAT DO I DO? I don't wanna like him! -Flails- I am not a fangirl and, and, and--! -Sighs- It's just....mergh. We "bonded". Yes, you read correctly; bonding over chemicals. I mean, yes, he is still a jerk, but I think I get why he does it. Hence my evening:

I groaned and rolled off my bed, listening as Cloud threatened to leave me behind. Pulling at my off white sweater, I slipped into my green hightops(Uh, okay, so maybe their yours) and nabbed my Chemistry binder. I walked outside and did a double take.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!?" I asked, voice raising an octave. There was Cloud alright.....sitting on his motorcycle. I hated that thing. Wait, no, I'm lying--I loathed it with a fiery passion of a thousand suns.

'Just get on, Nami," Cloud said in a nonchalant manner. I wanted to cry. Actually, I think I did while holding onto my brother for fear life. After twenty minutes that felt like forever, he pulled up in front of a....mansion. He watched through his goggles and lifted an eyebrow, "Sure this is the right place?"

I nodded, "He said 1306 Organization Dr." My brother nodded, a few locks of golden hair falling into his eyes.

"So I pick you up up at nine?"

"Mh-hm."

Cloud paused again, "If he tries anything funny, remember S.I.N.G."  
This is where I doubled over in laughter.

"Have you been watching Miss Congeniality?"

"....Rinoa made me."

'Suuuuuuure," I replied in my disbelieving tone and walked through the front iron gate. A face peeked from the window, and a plump woman answered the door, "Namine?"

'Uh," I blinked, "yes ma'am. Are you Riku's mother...?"

She laughed at my confused, "Barely! I'm just the housemaid." She stepped back and allowed me into the.....giant house. I blinked, taking in all the marble flooring and stopped when Old Man descended down the grand-type staircase.

"Strife, what the hell are you gawking at? Let's go," he turned on his heel and paced down the hall, me following in tow. I held my binder closer to me and stopped as we entered.....a library. Okay, really now? Who the hell needs a massive library in their goddamn house? I frowned and mentally cursed OM for being rich. "Earth to Strife. .......Strife. Strife," and yet I continued with all my foul names, ignoring his calls for me to hand over my binder.

"NAMINE," He finally said, this time a lot louder and firmer. "Give me your stupid binder so we can do this."

I sheepishly handed it over, sliding into the chair opposite side of him. For a while we worked in silence, only answering each other's questions once in a while. Finally gathering some nerve, I cleared my throat, doodling on the edge of my report. "So, you have a really nice house..."

"If you say so."

"How many rooms do you have in this house?"

"32," he replied smoothly, his cursive lining the pages of our report. Dammit, he even had perfect handwriting. I wanted to wring his neck. "Plus a music room."

I blinked, "You have your own music room?"

Old Man rolled his eyes, "Doesn't everyone?"

".....No," I replied hotly and glared. "Not everyone has rich parents."

There was an awkward silence as Riku stopped writing, and glared at me dead set in the eyes, "I don't have parents."

.....Oh shit. What did I do. I blinked, taken aback, and frowned, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offen--"

"Just stop talking about it and you're fine," he snapped and stood up. "I need something to drink." Of course he didn't offer me any; go figure. So I sat there until he returned, pondering over what might have happened with Riku's parents. I bit my lip and sighed, resting my cheek on my elbow. When he sat across from me again, something inside of me....snapped. Why the hell did he hate me so much? I mean, sure, I was a bitch to him only because he was one to me. At first I didn't even DO anything to him.

".....Why do you hate me so much?" I asked, daring to take a peek into those heavenly aqua eyes. They were stoic, and basically lacked emotion, unlike mine.

Old Man rolled his eyes at my question, "I don't hate you."

I glared in response and......yelled, "Don't give me that. You give me hell every single day. I dread having to see you and spend time with you because I'm scared of what you'll do to me next! You're such an asshole. I wish I could just stay away from you."

Another silence crossed over the table as he smiled ruefully, "Well, I wish you could, too."

I settled down a bit, but....what the hell did he mean. "What?" I asked rather bluntly, anger still inside of my being.

He didn't reply until a minute or two later, "Because when someone stays away, you're less likely to know them. And when you don't know them, it makes it easier to let go when something happens to them."

The expression on his face made all of my boiling fury melt away into that of pity. So that's why he did it. He didn't hate me. No...he hated the fact that he if got to know me, he might get attached to me. So, this is when I got the crazy idea of being....well....

"We should be friends," I declared and held back a laugh as his head bobbed up, eyes narrowing.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Yup."

"And?"

"I don't care," I decided and shrugged. "I want to be friends with you. It's better than having you dump cream all over me."

Old Man--I mean Riku, smirked, "Hah, that one was classic."

"It was mean!"

"Never said I was nice."

I exhaled, "Hardeeharhar, you're hysterical."

And so after that we...talked. And bonded. AND WE HAVE A LOT OF STUFF IN COMMON. I feel like we're going to be...."Friends", but he denies that we are. I KNOW WE WILL BE. I AM DETERMINED.

......Not to mention I have a crush on him. A TINY ONE. God, I hate myself.

Anyways, darling, time to go. Rinoa wants to see my laptop and Cloud is letting her. -.-

I LOVE YOU3

KISS SORA FOR ME IN A NON-ROMANTIC WAY.

KICK ROXAS IN THE BALLS FOR NOT ASKING ME OUT.

DISS ZACK.

ILY!

Namine.

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	6. Take 6

**Take S I X**

From: Kairi Lockheart

To: Namine Strife

Date: Apr 27, 2009 at 7:28 PM

Subject: ...MR. DARCY. -faints-

TO MY BEE-EFF-EFF.

Si, senorita. I kissed him. -nods- :3 AND LMAO. Hopefully Tifa and Cloud would be married themselves by then ;D ;D ;D With a delightful... bun in the oven? Tifa wearing a dark-blue bridesmaid/maternity gown? ;D Okayyyy, I think we're enjoying our future aunthood far too much. -continues fantasizing over beautiful blond-haired babies anyway- Oh god. Those babies would be so perfect. Tifa and Cloud don't even need to be married, they just need to have SEX.

I must say, I like being Sora's girlfriend. Although, he blushed again when I called myself that. HE'S SO CUTE. -stops self before starts raving- Aw, I'm sorry, dear. But don't worry... -wink wink nudge nudge- I like where you're heading with Riku/OM. Bonding over acid? What could be sexier than that? Does he have a girlfriend? If so, I shall set out to your town and come armed. JK.

Cloud made FRIENDS? -le gasp!- Poor unsocial guy. It took him four years to be friends with Zack. Luckily enough, Zack introduced him to the rest of the gang. ...WHICH REMINDS ME. Today during breakfast, Tifa was telling me about what she's gonna do today.  
"Zack's gonna take me to the movies... have you noticed how much nicer he's gotten? I reallyyyy like him, Kairi. I hope Cloud likes me back this much."  
I choked on my cereal.  
"Kairi?" Tifa said, her chocolate eyes wide.  
"You said Cloud instead of Zack!"  
"Huh?" She frowned. "No, I didn't."  
"Yes you did! Didn't you hear yourself say it?!"  
"No, _because I didn't._"  
"DID TOO!"  
"I DIDN'T. NOW SHUT UP AND EAT."  
We know the truth though! Tifa has been so stingy about everything lately.

YOU. ARE. BEAUTIFUL. SO HUSH. Or ask Riku for confirmation? ;D  
AND YOU SAID YOU LIKED HIM. -Hallelujah chorus- You are MINE. -starts writing sonnets of Sir Riku and Lady Namine-  
I feel bad for him. : / He's only such a jerk because he's afraid he'll like you and something will happen to you. Which won't. Because she's got Super-Kairi protecting her every moment. :3 -tackles- God, I miss you.

YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE LUNCH TODAY. So. Selphie absolutely HATES me. And has somehow convinced Roxas to go to the dark side. -kicks Roxas in the balls for you-  
Me, Tidus, and Sora were sitting at our usual spot. I was kind of hoping that they'd come sit with us and we'd be friends again, but that didn't happen. Selphie comes to our table, with Wakka and Roxas behind her (neither looked very comfortable or supportive of her) and smashed her lunch tray on the table. I finished chewing what I had in my mouth slowly and looked up at her. Judging by her face, she looked incredibly pissed.  
"Could you go stand somewhere else and be an uglier version of Regina George?" I said. "You don't smell nice and I'm trying to eat."  
"Go find a different table," she said in a low voice. "This one is ours."  
I laughed.  
"I'm sorry, did you just try to _command me, _Selphie?"  
"I didn't try. I just commanded you."  
"Do you need me to remind you how Axel looked after he tried to command me?" I said in a dangerous voice. "Don't make me kick your badly proportioned ass, Selphie."  
"Get away from our table _right now_, Lockhart, or I'll make your face look like your backside."  
I stood up.  
"Did you not hear me, Selphie? Then let me say it again once and for all. I will break your heart and then I'll break your face. So get the hell out of my view right now."  
Selphie glared at me, then looked at Sora.  
"Why are you letting her be so mean to me, Sora?" Selphie said in a sweet voice.  
Sora stuffed a bunch of food in his mouth, avoiding confrontation like always.  
Selphie gave him another cute smile, then she turned around and left.  
"Roxas!" I said. He turned around and looked like he wanted to come talk to me, but Selphie grabbed his arm firmly and dragged him along.  
I sat back down.  
"What the hell does she think she's doing?" I wondered out loud.  
"I don't knoww..." Tidus said softly, sounding more like a groan. I looked at him: he hadn't gotten food, and he was currently propped on one elbow, looking pale and feverish.  
"Are you alright, Tidus?"  
"I'm ffffinee," he said, slurring slightly in his speech. I frowned and looked at Sora.  
_What? _he mouthed.  
_He's your best friend! Say something! _I mouthed back.  
"You sure, Tidus?" Sora said. "You look really sick."  
Tidus gave a small wave of his hand.  
"I'm fine..." he repeated. "Just a little cold..."  
I reached across the table and felt his forehead. He was burning up. I felt his hand, and it was freezing cold.  
"Tidus, I think you should see the nurse."  
"Nahh... she can't give me anything anyway... besides, my mom's at work... my dad too... no one c'n pick me up, so..."  
Mr. and Mrs. Coda weren't the best of parents, I'm sure you'll agree with me. Mrs. Coda is alright, but she cares far too much about Tidus' dad compared to Tidus himself. If you ask me, she should pay more attention to her son than to Jecht. : /  
The bell rang.  
"Well, take it easy, okay?" I picked up my bookbag and tossed my lunch tray in the trash can. Tidus stood up painfully and started walking towards the C hall at a slow pace. I hugged Sora and kissed him on the cheek.  
"Can you watch him?" I asked softly.  
"Watch him?"  
"Just notice his actions and make sure he doesn't pass out. If he seems worse, tell me? Please, Sora?"  
"Of course." Sora gave a small laugh. "You shouldn't be so worried about him, Kairi, he's probably just got a bad cold or something."  
I sighed. "I know, I know. Maternal side taking over. I'll see you after school, okay?"  
"Okay." He kissed me and hurried after Tidus.

Shiz, gotta go to bed. If I'm lucky, I'll catch a grand amount of five hours sleep. =_= Adios!  
ILY. :]  
KAIRI!

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Apr 27, 2009 at 8:34 PM

Subject: Uh, Mr. Darcy has nothing on you, babe.

Kai :D

Uh, heck yes! All we need to do is slop some alcohol into their drinks, push them into a closet, and let 'em at it ;D. I mean, it'd work. Hopefully. And Zack would hook up with Aerith--sorry Squall--and we'd be all happy! Ah, wait, Squall needs someone.....Rinoa. She seems his type, anyways. The wedding would be beautiful and everyone would live happily ever after.

....I'm sorry, but I've NEVER liked Selphie. You know that, everyone kbows that, and I'm positive she knows that. However, if I was there, I would have socked her in the face before anyone could blink. She would have fallen backwards, hitting her flippy head on a table. Haha! -Cackles- I swear, Kairi, next time I see her it's smack down time. Literally. -Dresses up in sumo outfit- It's 'Clobberin time! Haha, Fantastic 4 reference. And, uh, Roxas took SELPHIE'S SIDE? Ohmygod, my urge to kill him has increased by 150%. -Swift kick in the balls- I hope Axel sets him on fire. I am going to kick his spiky ass and -continues rant-. God, I'm sorry that the group is falling apart. I mean, and it's all Selphie's fault. She wasn't starting crap when I was there. She probably is still scarred from that time I "accidentally" washed her cheerleading uniform with my black bra -smirks-. I just wanna smack sense back into everyone. -Sighs- But at least Sora and Tidus are there to back you up! And poor Tidus! Give him a hug from moi. :] His parents....ugh...don't even get me started. Poor Tidus. : / Jecht is an asshole; Tidus should move in with Sora. Heaven knows Sora's parents love him more than his own.

My day was a bit better than yours, though. Cloud dropped me off--the ride was Fenrir free, thank-God--and I met Olette and and Pence in the library. Hayner, apparently, had morning detention with Mr. Saix for interrupting class or something. As Olette and Pence chattered, I pulled out my sketchpad and started to draw. The rest of the day flew by like that until lunch, however. I sat there, eating my yogurt and apple slices contently, when I felt an extra weight on my side of the table. I glanced up only to see silver hair and aqua colored eyes.

"Am I bothering you?" He asked nonchalantly, and I could tell he really didn't care if he was or not.

I shook my head, "No. Why?"

"No reason," he picked one of my apple slices up and munched at it carefully. "We just need to finish our project is all. It's due next week. What are you doing Friday?"

"Nothing. But I guess I am now?" I laughed a bit and I knew he was basically saying I was expected at his house.

Riku nodded, "Mhhm. After school--I'll give you a ride home once we're done." With this, he ruffled my hair a bit and walked off. Well, I suppose we were....friends. Or something. I turned my attention and met eyes with surprised expressions from Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

Olette was the first one to break the silence, "I can't believe he broke away from his friends."

"I can't believe he sat with us," Pence added.

Hayner chuckled, "I can't believe he chooses our little Nami to be his newest victim."

I nervously laughed, "I can't believe it's not butter?" And I continued to eat."

So, yes. Friday, I have plans. TO DO HOMEWORK. God. The rest of the day after work, sadly, was not as good. Starbucks sucked today. Really, it did. Like, you thought my first day there was worse? Uh, no. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

"You spin my head right round, right round when you go DOWN, when you go down DOWN," I sang happily, hips swaying to the music above me. From my side, Riku was glaring daggers at my back. Hah; he would have to deal with my very off key singing. The customer, a cute guy around Cloud's age I guessed, grinned and mocked the falsetto of the female singer.

"You spin my head right round, right round, when you go down, when you go down DOWN." I smiled and handed him his coffee, faint blush on my cheeks. He walked away and Riku started the blender next to me.

"He was flirting with you," Riku said in a matter-of-fact tone. I blushed again and sipped at my own beverage.

"He wasn't," I protested only to have my hair ruffled by pale hands.

"Growing up soooo fast," Riku smirked and walked off, leaving me to fight a blush. My God, Kairi, I like him. Which is stupid, I know, but I can't help it. He's nice when he wants to be, and is a lot less conceited than I thought. However, he is still aggravating at times. Why do I always like the people who will never like me back? I mean, I liked Tidus from kindergarden until fourth grade. At the time, though, Tidus was infacuated with Yuffie. Remember that? And then--once he moved here--I liked Roxas, but he's gay. Or bisexual. But probably gay. I mean, I should have known. His nails were almost more polished than mine. Plus, he would always hold hands with Axel.

Wow, I am an idiot.

Riku's shift ended and he left, leaving me and some chick named Cissnei to clean up. The door opened and Olette walked in, giving me a small wave.

"Hey Nami."

"Hello Olette," I greeted. "The usual?"

"Yup," she dug out four dollars and handed it over. "So, she continued, "what was up at lunch today? I thought you hated Riku. You two were acting like, I dunno, friends."

I sighed, "I dunno. I don't hate him anymore, though. He's not as bad as I thought."

Olette beamed ar me, "Told you! So, you wouldn't mind if I invited him and Rikku to my pool party next Saturday?"

"Rikku.....there's another one?" Oh God, two Rikus. Olette sipped her iced coffee once I gave it to her and rolled her jade eyes.

"No, silly. Rikku. R-I-K-K-U is a girl. She's Riku's girlfriend."

My heart dropped into my stomach where it proceeded to dissolve. "Oh," I replied, adding a cheerful tone to my voice. "Sure! Sounds awesome." Olette smiled and thoughtfully moved some hair from my eyes.

"Great! I'm so excited. See you, then!" She waved and darted off, leaving Cissnei and I to clean up. I hummed along to the tune above me and sighed. Cissnei walked next to me and offered me a sad smile.

"Sucks when the person you like has to like someone else, doesn't it?"

"You have no idea."

Hence my afternoon. And now I have a crapload of homework to do. -Sigh- I love you, Kairi. :3 -lessthanthree-

Namine.

From: Kairiiiiiii (555) 803 4992

To: Me (556) 220 5773

namiiiiiiiii im on my phone. dont be alarmed actually do but calm down b/c im perfectly fine. healthwise that is. im really worried mentally. tidus has stage 2 hypothermia. its really bad, if he gets to stage 3 theres a 99.9 percent chance of him dying. hes in the hospital and people are taking care of him so he should be fine. im at the hospital w/ sora, roxas, wakka, selphie, and zack who has been asked by tifa to be my chaperone seeing as shes got a major test tomorrow. i asked zack to get my laptop and my monkey blanket b/c im planning on staying here. ill type you out a longer email later

From: NAMI! ((556) 220 5773

To: Me (555) 803 4992

ohmygod, Kai, please keep me informed. D: Poor tidus. I hope he's alright. call me if something happens, plz?

love Namine.


	7. Take 7

**Take S E V E N**

From: Kairi Lockheart

To: Namine Strife

Date: May 5, 2009 at 9:27 PM

Subject: Ugh.

To my darling Namine:

As you have probably realized from my urgent and slightly desperate e-text, I'm at the hospital, camping out slightly illegally in Tidus' room. Yes, he is stable now and the doctors think he'll be back to stage one tomorrow-afternoon. ^^ Ugh. I'm really tired and my nerves are spent, but I am DETERMINED to give you this story, dammit.

I guess it really started at the beginning of lunch. Tidus was trying to sleep and propped up on one arm. He was /really/ pale and sort of bluish looking. He was shivering, even though he was wearing a hoodie over his uniform, and his breathing was shallow and slower.  
"Tidus?!" I exclaimed. I sat down beside him and felt his forehead. He stirred and looked at me groggily.  
"Kairi...?" he said in a hoarse voice. "What are you doing here..."  
"Tidus, it's lunch."  
"...it is?" He moved his head a little. "Oh... it is..."  
I cast a worried glance at Sora.  
"Tidus, why did you go to school?"  
"...what?"  
"Why did you go to school?" I felt his forehead. I could cook an egg on there. I felt his hand, and it was like touching a snow man.  
"...Dad told me to... he wasn't really... really happy... bad test grade... in Geometry... Kairi, I'm so tired... I can't seem to sleep..."  
"Shh." I started to rub his back. "Go to sleep." I looked at Sora, who was shaking his head.  
"I hate his parents," he said softly.  
"You're not alone," I agreed. "We need to take him to the nurse." I looked longingly at the food. Whoever thought it would be a smart idea to have lunch at 2:05 should be shot.  
"Lemme get some food real quick," Sora said. "You stay here, I'll just get a big tray of fries."  
"Mmkay."  
I guess it wasn't really good of us to do that, but we were starving. I kept rubbing Tidus back and we didn't say a word, but he couldn't fall asleep. The bell finally rang.  
"Tidus, we /need/ to go see the nurse," I said very quietly.  
"...nurse? ...why?"  
"Something's wrong with you. I'm sorry, you're gonna have to walk."  
Tidus got up shakily and slowly, people started to stop and stare at us. Sora reached out to grab his arm, but Tidus weakly pushed him away.  
"I'm... I'm f...fine..."  
Tidus walked ahead of us a bit, his legs wobbling, when he suddenly collapsed. His legs just kind of gave out and he fell facedown on the floor. People started screaming and yelling, and somehow, our old gang appeared after one moment.  
I practically threw myself on him as people crowded around him.  
"SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR!" Sora yelled. We turned Tidus over, and he kind of lay there, twitching a little and shivering.  
"Is he even breathing?!" I heard the hysteria in my voice. Sora put his hand above Tidus' mouth.  
"Yes," Sora confirmed.  
"Tidus?!" squealed Selphie.  
"SHUT UP, SELPHIE!" I screamed. "Shut the hell up!"  
Aerith's aunt came running and slid to a stop beside Tidus. (Remember her? She looks exactly like Aerith, just older...)  
"Oh my god," she said breathlessly. "SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE!"  
"TIDUS!" I screamed. "What's wrong with him?!" I demanded from Ms. Gainsborough. My voice sounded hysterical.  
"He has stage two hypothermia," she snapped, glaring at me like it was _my_ fault. "Any idiot should have noticed he was seriously ill."  
And when she said that, I just freaked and went ballistic. I got all breathy and hyperventilationy and the room kinda sorta started spinning. o.o;; Then Sora grabbed my shoulders and shook me.  
"KAIRI!" he said loudly and I snapped out of it, but I started crying. He put his arms around me and pressed my face into his chest.  
"Shh, Kai... it's gonna be okay... he'll be fine..."  
Meanwhile, an ambulance came and they took Tidus away. (Of course, only relatives were allowed on the bus.) I was about to cry again when Zack appeared out of nowhere with a serious look on his face, bordering on angry. He grabbed my hand and started to pull me towards the parking lot.  
"Zack?!" I yelled. Sora trotted up alongside me, a worried look on his face. "Zack, what's going on?"  
"I'm kidnapping you," he said. "Don't scream."  
"What?" I said, completely confused now. Sora increased his speed and walked next to Zack.  
"Zack, what are you doing?!" he demanded.  
"I'm sneaking Kairi off campus and taking her to the hospital. Okay?" He reached into his pocket and unlocked his car. "Wanna come, Sora?"  
"No!" I said. "You're gonna get in trouble..." I thought of his foster dad, Angeal. Zack was always trying to impress him. I didn't think a little trip outside school would impress him.  
"No, I won't. Angeal will understand. Besides, neither of you can drive."  
"Did Tifa put you up to this?"  
Zack's jaw hardened, then he shook his head.  
"No," he snapped. "She didn't ask me anything. She was just worried about you, okay? Now get in the car and shut up."  
I didn't push the subject, but it seemed like a very brotherly thing to do.

About ten minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. Mrs. Coda was already there, but Jecht wasn't. Mrs. Coda looked really worried, and she was crying and sobbing every two minutes. Zack just kinda went in and out of Tidus' room, whilst Sora and I made ourselves permanent residents in the corner of his room as doctors hustled and bustled about and stuck needles in Tidus and fussed about him. It looked really weird for Tidus, whom I've never seen sitting/laying without fidgeting, to lay completely still in the bed, almost as pale as the blankets. Zack called Tifa and she asked him to stay with us. Then he went to my house to get my stuff. I texted you and just kind of sat there for a long time.  
"...I'm scared," I said very softly to Sora after a long period of time. I could feel him turn his gaze towards me as I kept my eyes on the ground. He reached over and squeezed my trembling hand.  
"Me, too," he said even softer.  
Zack returned with my stuff, and an emergency pack from Tifa, containing money, food, sweats, large shirt, sports bra, laptop, toothbrush, etc. I really love her sometimes.  
I'm so tired, Namine. I'm going to try and get some sleep and give you an update tomorrow.  
I love you. Sora gives you a virtual hug. Zack steals your virtual socks?

Less than three, Kairi.

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: May 6, 2009 at 7:56 PM

Subject: I Wish I Had My Own Car

Ohmygosh, Kairi, I didn't get your email until six this morning. -Flails wildly- Is Tidus alright? ANSWER ME, WOMAN! I just--ugh. Hang on.

.......Okay, so I'm back. Three hours later. When you read this email, you will probably be so pissed at me, but I kind of freaked out. I mean, Tidus is one of my best friends, too; I'm worried about him. Basically, what just went down:

After reading your email, I furiously tossed clothing into my backpack. The black fabric paint was chipping off, but I honestly didn't care. I just needed something to hold about a weekend's worth of clothes. Pushing some hair off my forehead, I turned my attention to my bedroom window. My window was the only one connected to a ladder for means of quick escape. With all the strength I could muster, I pushed the window up until I was able to climb out safely. "Here goes nothing," I mumbled, swinging my backpack on to my back, and descending down the staircase. Now, Kai, mind you, I hate heights. So, after ten minutes of shaking and trying hard not to look down, I landed on the pavement with nothing but a scratch or two.

And then I ran.

Okay, so, I really didn't /have/ a plan on how to get to Morrowind--Kairi, don't roll your eyes at me--but I just knew that I had to get there. Somehow. One way. Y'know, it was times like this in which I'm sorry that I cut gym with you so we could go and do other things aka prank the boy's side of the locker room. I might have more stamina if it wasn't for you, m'dear. But that's alright because I love you, anyways. H'okay, so I got to the highway, right? Well, my cellphone buzzed. Loudly. I groaned and looked down, seeing that it was Cloud calling. So I answered. I mean, Cloud and I were partners in crime, right? He didn't tattle on me, and I didn't tell mom and dad about his, uh, attachment to Rinoa's lips--erm--presence.

"Hello," I answered loudly, trying to ignore the roar of the speeding cards to my right. I kept holding out my hand, but none of them stopped. Dammit.

"Namine," Cloud's voice was furious, "where the hell are you? Mom said the school called. You obviously aren't there. What the--"

I sighed into the phone, "Cloud, please. I'm going to Morrowind. Tidus is really sick and I--"

"Where are you?"

I nervously sweatdropped, "About that...."

"Namine, where the hell are you?" I froze, color draining from my face. Cloud sounded so....angry. I didn't know he could _do _angry. I nervously told him where I was, and held the phone away from my ear as he cussed loudly. In about twenty minutes, Fenrir stopped and Cloud pushed up his goggles.

His eyes were blazing.

....Oh shit. I was in so much trouble. The ride home was silence, for the most part, until we pulled back up in front of the apartment. Cloud didn't even look at me as we walked into our home, and I wasn't going to start him. At the moment, I was pretty scared of him.

"Namine, you're a straight A student, yet you lack common sense," he said this and removed his jacket. I looked away, trying to brush off his words. "You can't just go back to Morrowind whenever you want. You may think you're old enough to do whatever the hell you want, but you aren't. And, quite frankly, I'm tired of playing babysitter. Grow up, Nami."

....Well, okay. So, I typically didn't cry at anything Cloud said, but that stung. A lot. Before I could register what was happening, I bolted for my room, hand twisting the doorknob roughly. "I hate you!" I called out from over my shoulder and slammed the door, the image of Cloud's hurt expression burnt into my mind.

...............

Do you think I was a bit too harsh? : / I mean, I know he only wants what's best for me and all, but he isn't my dad. And, dammit, I'm just really worried about Tidus. -Sighs- Send him chocolate for me? :3

And oh lala, is there trouble in paradise for Zack and Tifa? As terrible as this is, I'm kind of hoping there is. Please? -Sigh- And wow--Selphie actually gave a crap about Tidus? I mean, I know she use to be half in love with him, but really now. ....Come to think of it, is there anyone on the island who hasn't been in love with Tidus at least once before? The answer is no. Wait, yes--maybe you. And Tifa. And the 'rents. BUT THEY DON'T COUNT.

-Headdesk- And now Cloud is dragging me back to school. Urgles, this will be interesting to explain.

ILY! Lessthanthree. Give Tidus a hug for me, and give one to Sora as well.

And buy yourself some candy. Yes, that is from ME, dammit.

Love, Namine.

From: Kairi Lockheart

To: Namine Strife

Date: Jun 7, 2009 at 12:29 AM

Subject: I wish you did, too. T_T

Hello Nami! ^_^/  
I am a bringer of great news. Tidus is in stage one, and the last part of stage one, too. He'll be better tomorrow, and be in great shape in another four days. :]

... you were going to HITCHHIKE to MORROWIND?! -flails- WHAT WERE YOU THINKING. Have you ever seen Chainsaw Massacre?! -stops lecture before it starts- Next time you want to do something irrational, call me? Please?  
And my poor Namine. :[ -hugs- Cloud was just worried, darling. He didn't mean all those things. I think you should tell Cloud you don't hate him. And he's only being your dad because... well, you're dad's not being much of a dad. : /

I'll give you the breakdown of what happened today... I woke up this morning and was slightly confused for several minutes, seeing as my surroundings were completely strange. Sora was holding me, and sleeping himself with his head leaning against the wall, and Zack sat in the farthest corner, his eyes still open and huge bags under his eyes. Selphie, Wakka and Roxas were missing - they either went home or were getting breakfast. There were some nurses in Tidus room - the doctor was talking to Mrs. Coda outside the room, and their voices were happy. As soon as the nurses moved out of the way, I could see Tidus. He actually looked alive this time, and instead of being unconscious, he was sleeping.  
"Did you sleep at all?" I asked Zack quietly as soon as the nurses left the room.  
"No," he said stiffly.  
"What's wrong?" I pried further.  
"Nothing," he snapped. Trouble in paradise is right, I presume.  
"If you don't tell me now, Tifa will."  
Zack glared at me, and sank even further down in his chair.  
"I told her I loved her," he grumbled and looked away, embarrassed. I'm sure you could imagine the surprise on my face. Luckily, he wasn't looking my way, so he didn't see.  
"And?" I said.  
"And what?!" Tidus stirred and I lowered my voice.  
"Well, you can't be so upset about just that, can you?"  
"No... she didn't... she didn't respond to it, that's all."  
"Ah." I thought over what I was going to say next. "Maybe she thinks you're taking things a little too fast."  
"A little too--?! We've been going out for three months now! We've held hands, we've kissed, and I love her! How can I be taking things too fast?!" And then he stormed out of the room. Tidus opened his eyes and made a face, shielding his eyes from the bright lights with his hand. I rushed to his side.  
"TIDUS!" I exclaimed and I tackled him with a hug.  
"Kairi...?" he said in a hoarse voice. He hugged me back weakly. "Where am I?"  
I grabbed his hand and held it in my hands. "Tidus, you had hypothermia. You collapsed at school. They took you to the hospital."  
Tidus groaned and rubbed his face with his other hand.  
"I guess that's what I get for walking around the island when it's pouring rain."  
"You did _what_?!" I exclaimed. Tidus flinched. "_Why_?!"  
"I dunno... just thinking over things..."  
"Don't you ever do that again! Do you have any idea how _worried _we all were about you?!"  
"Worried? About me? Why?" He laughed weakly. "Don't you remember that time I fell off the cliff on the island? Or when you nearly drowned me?"  
"Oh my god, don't remind me, please." I absentmindedly started to trace the lines on Tidus' palm. Tidus sighed and let himself fall backwards into his pillows.  
"Who all is here?"  
"Well, you... me... Sora... he's sleeping right there... Zack, who's not happy with me right now... Selphie..." (He made a face) "Wakka, and Roxas. And your mom."  
"I guess my dad didn't come, huh," he said wryly. I shook my head slowly.  
"I bet he was... busy with work..." I said. Funny. Making up excuses for a man I despise. I pushed back his hair and felt his forehead. "Are you feeling better?"  
"Tons," he claimed, sitting upright again. "I'm just starving. Did I miss anything?"  
"Besides you passing out and me having a mental breakdown? No, nothing."  
"_You_ had a mental breakdown because of me?" Tidus laughed. "I feel loved." I punched him lightly in the gut.  
"Oh! Namine tried to hitchhike down here because of you."  
"_WHAT_?" Tidus jerked upright. "You're kidding me, right?"  
"Nope. "  
"But she's so... so... smart! Why would she do that?"  
"She was really worried about you, Tidus," I said softly. "We all were."  
Tidus paused for a moment, then reached forward and ruffled my hair.  
"No need for you to be, Kai. I'm probably lucky or something."  
I grinned, leaned forward and hugged him.  
"That's from Namine."  
"Do I get one from Kairi?" he demanded, pretending to be insulted.  
"Yes, if Tidus promises never to take a walk around the island in the pouring rain again."  
"Deal."  
I hugged him again as Sora stirred.  
"Kairi?" he said, a drowsy look on his face and his hair sticking everywhere, apparently noticing I was missing first. Then he looked our way. "Tidus...?" He yawned, then rubbed his face and the bridge of his nose. "You okay?"  
"I feel fine," Tidus claimed. I then realized I was still holding his hand and, because it looked awkwardddd!, I quickly released it.  
"You're an idiot for making us worry like that." Still, Sora grinned.  
"You're an idiot for worrying," Tidus laughed.  
They hugged (guy-style, naturally...) when the door burst open. Zack looked at us with his eyebrows raised.  
"We gotta go," he told me, walking quickly to my bag and picking it up.  
"Uh.. okay?" I hugged Tidus and was about to leave.  
"Hey!" Sora yelled. I spun around. "What about me?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.  
"I'm sorry!" I cried and I walked back and hugged him. Sora grabbed my wrists and kissed me on the lips. It was weird, because it looked like he was trying to prove something. I kissed him back for a few seconds, then I pulled away from him.  
"Zack's gonna kill me," I muttered. Then I ran out of the room. Zack was waiting by his car, holding the door open for me. Judging by his face, he was highly irritated.  
"Get in, get in!" he urged. I flew into the passenger's seat and he ran to the other side of the car. The engine roared to life and we raced away.  
"What's wrong?" I demanded.  
"Tifa called," he said. "Your mom is seriously pissed at you. Tifa took the bullet for you and calmed her down a bit."  
"Ugh." I rubbed my eyes. "I really hate her sometimes..."  
"Tifa?" Zack looked at me, alarmed.  
"No, my mom."  
We were quiet for a while. I was really nervous. I mean, we both know my mom is a menace. Remember that time I accidentally broke a glass and she almost smacked me? Yeah. So I was a little scared.  
Zack parked crookedly in front of my house.  
"Would me coming in make her simmer down a little?" he asked.  
"Nahh," I said. "Our guests don't really matter. She'll ignore them. Thanks, Zack. Talk to you Monday."  
Zack nodded.  
"Tell Tifa I'll call her?"  
Then he closed his door and drove off, slower this time. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and sighed. Then I went inside the house.  
"--and your little sister are both complete sluts! Running after guys all the time! You don't have any girl friends at all!"  
"MOM! You're making this ridiculous! If we were really 'sluts' as you politely phrased, then we'd be prego by now!"  
"What the hell is 'prego'?!"  
"NOTHING! We're NOT sluts! You need to stop overreacting at every little thing we do!"  
"Running after boys, dressing in those slutty clothes..."  
"...Okay, sure Mom. We're sluts, alright? Because you never taught us differently."  
The door to the living room flew open. Tifa was about to run upstairs, but then she caught sight of me. There were wet streaks down her face. Mom came right up behind Tifa. I never realized how ugly she looked when she was angry.  
"Kairi Lockheart, get your skinny ass over here right this instant."  
"No," I said.  
She turned her head a little. "_What _did you just say?"  
"I said no. I am not going to stand there and be verbally abused by you like you did to Teef. Dear God, Mom, I can't believe you still haven't figured out why Dad left you."  
And then I ran upstairs, Tifa close behind me.  
"KAIRI!" she screamed. "Get down here, NOW!"  
We ran into Tifa's room (obviously because it's practically her own suite) and spent the rest of our Saturday there. :O It was a lot of fun. -nods-  
I think I'm going to call my dad soon or something... see what he's been up to these past fifteen years.

ILOVEYOU.  
Kairi. -heart-

From: Namine Strife

To: Kairi Lockheart

Date: Jun 12, 2009 at 7:25 PM

Subject: SHE WANTS TO TOUCH ME, WOOHOO! -Dances-

Kairi! -Heart-

Really? I am so happy Tidus is on his way to a speedy recovery! I was so worried about him and all....: /

-Sigh- I knew you were going to freak out. Bah, I won't do it again and all that jazz. Cloud and I made up. The general breakdown:

The next morning, which I realized with dismay was Saturday, a faint knocking noise emitted from my door. Groggily, I pushed up from the warm, comforting blankets of my bed and unlocked the door. There stood Cloud, covered in what seemed like cake batter, holding a plate of pancakes.

"Can I come in?" He asked softly, identical eyes plastered to the ground. Instantly I was hit with a wall of guilt; he didn't deserve what I had said to him earlier. Cloud and I had always been close. In a sense, we were all each other had; heaven knew our parents were never around.

I nodded, my own eyes downcast, as Cloud slipped into my small room. We sat in awkward silence for a moment before I flung my arms around his neck and profoundly apologized. So yes, we are all nice and dandy once more. ;D

....Can I be truthfully honest, Kai?

Tidus.

Likes.

You.

Like, like-like. THE LIKE-LIKE, ZOMG WTF BBQ!!!!!! 'Kay, gonna stop that now. But anyways, he likes you. How do I know? Well, my dear, I can tell these things. After all, Sora is typically the sweetest person on the planet--why else would he suddenly need a bunch of PDA? ....Roxas was there? AND SELPHIE? Visiting Tidus? Wow, well, you know what they say; bad times bring people together. I still want you to hurt Roxas. A lot. Even if he is hot. And looks like Sora's twin. ....Merg.

....That's it. I'm driving down there and kidnapping you and Teef. You may stay in my room with me, and Teef can stay with Cloud. ;D Oh! Speaking of which, is there problem in paradise with your sister and Zack? I mean, as much as I am for team blondie, I still kinda feel bad for Zack. It's pretty obvious he changed a whole bunch for your sister. -Shrug- Doesn't mean I forgive him about all the terrible pranks he use to play on me when spending the night at our house.

Anyways, back on the subject of your mother:

She's a bitch. Plain and simple, my dear. And, I can't believe I'm saying this, but calling your father might be a good idea. : / I mean, he obviously left for some reason. I /highly/ doubt it was you and Tfa, considering he stayed around until Teef was--like--two? My guess was that your psychopathic, crazed mother drove him out. -Sigh and sits on couch- And how does that make you feel? I'm kidding. You know I love you. : /

...I can't believe I'm saying this, but you might have had a better afternoon that I did. Yeah, sure, locking up in a room with Tifa. But, uh, remember how I had that pool party on Saturday at Olette's? Mh-hm, one word: disastrous. I shall start from the beginning of my misfortune.

After Cloud had left my room, I calmly laid there, staring at the cracks in my ceiling. My cellphone gently buzzed next to me and I rolled over, looking at the small mobile device. Flipping it open, I closed my eyes, "Hello?"

"Nami! Hey, it's Pence. You ready to go?"

I paused for a moment and placed an arm underneath my head, "Ready to go...where?"

An exasperated sigh emitted from the other line, "Olette's pool party. Did you forget already?"

....Ah, crap. Yes. Yes I did. Groaning, I rolled over and mumbled something about me not wishing to attend. Pence merely scowled me and told me to be ready in ten minutes. GRRRR!!!! Yes, I have developed into a lioness. Very, very vicious. Finally, I brushed my hair into a low ponytail, and slipped on that two-piece you bought me last summer. Of course it's in white, silly. Don't I always wear white? "NAMINE!" Cloud yelled from the living room, and I sighed, slipping on /your/ my sandals. HEY, DON'T GLARE AT THE SCREEN LIKE THAT. You still have my blue converse and you know it!

Pence eyed me respectively, taking in my white cover-up, before walking with me down the stairs. "You brought sunblock, right?"

'Naturally," I replied, knowing how badly my skin burnt without it. I slipped into the passenger's seat and fiddled with Pence's radio as he drove to Olette's house from my apartment. Maybe after, like, twenty minutes or so, we arrived.

Oh yeah. Not only are the people here supermodel worthy--with the exception of Pence and I--but they are also wealthy. Okay, what the hell. Olette lives in a frickin huge house with a--I'm guess here--huge-butt pool. Pence let himself in and Hayner grinned at the sight of his best friend. "Hey Nami." he slapped a hand over my shoulder. Go see Olette. She's in her loft."

"...Loft?" I asked rather incredulously. Oh yeah, they have their own LOFTS here, Kai. I kid you not. Rolling my baby blues, I walked up the spiral staircase and pushed up on the plank of white wood, rolling it off it's hinges.

Olette spun around, her hair in it's normal pretty waves. She was wearing an orange bikini with some floral print on it; very her. "Namine!" She pulled on my hand and closed the plank after I was inside her room. I must say, for living in such a big house, Olette was very quaint. She looked at my apparel and wrinkled her nose, "You gotta do anything with your hair?"

I shook my head, "It'll just get wet, anyways."

"So?"

"So," I replied, arms crossed, "what's the point of dolling myself up?" She sighed at me and pulled me into her vanity chair. After she applied some waterproof make-up to my face and fiddling with my ponytail, she freed me. ....And now I looked retarded. After helping Olette with her own make-up and whatnot, we walked back down to the living room and looked outside.

Apparently people were already there. Lovely.

"Hey guys!" A perky voice greeted and I spun around only to see my worse nightmare. Her. His girlfriend. _Rikku. _

Olette grinned and hugged the tanned beauty, "Heya Rikku! You know where everything is and stuff. Have fun!" From behind the tanned girl, Riku walked up and smirked over at me.

"Nice look, Namine." And he walked off. Just. like. that. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I fumed silently and stalked off to the pool. Bah. Pence followed me and stuff since, well, we were the third and fourth wheels. Lovely. I took off my cover-up and slid into the water, Pence repeating the process. Basically, for the majority of the party, Pence and I complained about our single status as I /sometimes/ snuck glances over at Riku and his who--I mean, girlfriend. Finally, when the sun was setting, I excused myself from Pence and slipped on my cover-up. I needed a walk. Pronto.

As my feet hit the asphalt, I couldn't help but mourn over the fact that, if you were here, I wouldn't have to worry about having a pity party. I was almost tempted to call Cloud and have him come get me. Apparently, in the mist of my pondering and walking, I ended up twenty blocks away from Olette's house. ......I am so brainless sometimes. Exhaling, I went to turn around and re-trace my steps when I bumped into something. "Ouch," I whined and looked up....

....Right into the eyes of Mr. Jerk himself. Ugh, I was /so/ not in the mood to deal with him.

"What are you doing out here?" Riku asked with an arched eyebrow. I made a 'phfft' noise. I had a strange urge to kick him in the balls. Instead of answering, however, I basically just retorted his own question.

"What are _you _doing out here?"

'I asked first."

"I asked second," I said proudly, arms folded, as he groaned in annoyance.

'You are very aggravating," his tone was dead serious and I knew he meant it. However, it didn't hurt. Ive been called worse, y'know. I merely shrugged and turned my attention to the setting sun.

"So....having fun?"

'Hm?"

"At the party."

'Oh." Riku just shrugged his shoulders, "It's alright. Rikku more on the lines dragged me here than anything."

I made a noise in the back of my throat. Ugh, his who--erm, girlfriend. Before I could help myself, I opened my mouth, "Why didn't you mention you had a girlfriend?"

Riku merely shrugged again. UGH. He was infuriating, "Didn't think it was that important. Why? Are you....jealous?" He was teasing me. It was very, very, very obvious. I huffed and turned my shoulder.

"In your dreams. I just thought we were friends. Y'know, friends share things with friends, like the fact that they have a gir--"

My words were cut off, however, as he pressed his lips against mine.

...........................................I think I died a bit on the inside.

I went to wrap my arms around his neck, when a noise interrupted us. Ah, crap. Pence. Who was beet red.

'Nami, Cloud's here. Uh...." Oh yeah. I was screwed. Riku merely walked away from me, leaving me dumbfounded.

........I'm screwed, aren't I?

Ugh. I hate my life.

I LOVE YOU.

Namine.

**_Authors' note; _Thanks for the lovely reviews, guys. Keep 'em coming! :D They make us smile and occassionally inspire us. **


	8. Take 8

**Take E I G H T**

From Kairi Lockheart

To Namine Strife  
Date Jun 17, 2009 at 2:26 PM

Subject SHE WANTS TO LOVE ME, WOOHOO!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-deep breath-

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

HE. KISSED. YOU?!  
HOLY FREAKING HELL. AHH. OHMYGOD. -flails- MY NAMI NO LONGER A KISSING VIRGIN?! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!!

Brb - Imma run around in circles to get rid of all this energy.

Anndddd -- I'm back. Holyyyy shiznit. THIS IS NUCKING FUTS, WOMAN! So... HE DOES LIKE YOU. MWA. WHO WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG? RIKU AND NAMINE KISSING IN A TREE....  
Okay. -deeeeeep. breath.-  
So. Now what? GAH. I'm so excited for you :D  
And woman, do you EVER wear color?

ha ha, so yes :] I was going to call my dad. But... I kind of didn't. I chickened out. Blegh. I know it's strange of me to be a chicken, but I the man doesn't know I exist, right? So Tifa and I went to Google and tried to find him. He's on match dot com _and _eHarmony, poor soul. He's thirty-five years old and he's extremely tall, like 6"3' or something ridiculous like that. His hair is a slightly shorter version of mine (but still on the long side). I've got his eyes too. And he wears his hair back in a ponytail and he has a crooked smile and he has an earring in his left ear and he loves fried shrimp and---  
And he doesn't know I exist. Tifa was 'bout one when he left. We don't know the whole story, but apparently he was sick of things (doubtless things with mi madre) and left. I know that my mom has taken legal measures to keep him away from us, but much more I don't know. Tifa was too young to remember anything, so we spent the whole rest of Saturday in her room, looking at pictures of him and reading things about him.  
Zack /did/ call, around 3-ish in the afternoon, and I kinda sorta eavesdropped on them. I couldn't hear exactly what was going on, because Tifa went into her bathroom and closed then door. At first she sounded a bit cold, but later on her voice grew louder and she giggled multiple times. GRR!! You can imagine how frustrated I was! Even though Zack has really manned up since you were last here, we must stick to our guns! Has Cloud been saying anything over Tifa lately?! ASK HIM IF HE LOVES HER! xD

My mom left for work reallyyyy early today, so Tifa and I ventured downstairs and made a ton of pancakes. We'd just finished when there was honking outside. We peered through the window and discovered it was Zack, Sora, Selphie (grr...), Wakka (grrrrr...), Roxas (grrr!), and a rather pale Tidus. I forgot about the unwanted people and got worried about Tidus.  
"TIDUS!" I yelled, automatically going into Mommy-mode. "What are you doing out of the hospital?! They weren't going to discharge you until tomorrow!"  
"I was allowed to go if I didn't swim," he grinned. I rolled my eyes at him. I had the feeling he'd used that exact same grin to get the nurses to let him loose a day early. I looked to my left and saw a most disturbing sight. (Well, not as bad as that time Zack decided it would be funny to moon us in the middle of the night that time we sneaked into the public pool.) Tifa was sitting in the driver's seat, leaning forward and was making out with Zack. They broke apart: Zack grinning and Tifa smiling, then Tifa leaned forward and whispered something consisting of three words in his ear. Zack's grin grew even larger, and he started to kiss her neck. I looked away before they ruined my whole afternoon.  
"Go put on your swimsuit, you freaking turtle!" Tidus yelled.  
"Shut up, you leprechaun!" I turned around and ran back in the house. "BE RIGHT BACK!"  
I put on my white and blue striped bikini and brushed my fingers through my hair in an attempt to fix it. I threw my head upside-down and started to put my hair in an asymmetrical ponytail when Tifa stormed into her room. (Yes, I was using her mirror. We all know her wall of mirrors is heaven.)  
"What was that?" I asked her.  
"What was what?" she asked, still smiling.  
"What did you say to Zack?" I asked nonchalantly, pulling my bangs down from my ponytail.  
"Oh." She paused uncomfortably as she started to change. "Nothing, really. Just that..." She searched for a lie. "That it was nice of him to come pick us up. And take us to the beach. While he doesn't have to. That he's nice."  
"That's all?" I turned around and looked her in the eye. She looked at me for a minute, then she pulled off her cargo pants and threw them on the bed.  
"Yeah, that's all."  
I walked out of her room. I felt hurt that she hadn't entrusted me with this. We all know I would have commented sarcastically on it -- but still, you know? Wouldn't you feel the same way if Cloud had hidden Rinoa from you? Dx I walked out the door and screamed in horror. Sora, Tidus, Roxas, and Wakka were ON MY FREAKING ROOF! WHAT THE HELL?  
"GET DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW, THIS INSTANT!" I screeched, pointing towards the ground angrily.  
"Oh, shit," Roxas said, which led me to think they had planned on not being caught.  
Seriously, do they have a death wish?! It would have been much less dangerous if they had stayed on the ground. Point A: there's the risk of them falling off the roof and breaking their necks. Point B: even if they /do/ survive the roof, there's the chance of me breaking their necks for their stupidity. I think I'll never understand their form of twisted logic.  
Zack was drumming the steering wheel, too high off Tifa to realize that four teenage boys that were friends with him were in mortal danger two minutes ago.  
"Get in the van!" I ordered, still fuming. Selphie was sitting in the van, holding a mirror with one hand and mascara with the other. When she finished, she looked at me.  
"Hey, Kairi," she smiled. It looked whiter: she'd doubtlessly been using Whitestrips or something.  
"Hello, Selphie." I looked away from her before my frustration boiled over. I heard the passenger's seat open and slam closed and I saw Tifa's dark hair through the window. Zack started the engine and drove off. I brought my fingers through my bangs and leaned my head against the side of the car.  
"Kairi, we're sorry for climbing on your roof." Tidus said this in a tone that said he thought I was still upset at them for that.  
"It's fine," I said, giving a little wave of my hand. "I'm just tired."  
Sora put his hand over mine and stroked it with his thumb. I looked at him, and he smiled at me.  
"What's wrong?" he said softly. I sighed.  
"Tifa's lying to me," I said. "It's upsetting me more than it should."  
"No, you should be upset about that. Isn't she your best friend next to Namine?"  
I pulled my mouth sideways and bit on the inside of my cheek.  
"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, she is."

Nothing much further happened when we got to the island. We had chicken fights -- I totally pwned Selphie's ass multiple times. Although Roxas is a tricksy kid and threw me off his shoulders TWICE -- and then laughed at me when I came up spluttering, which led to Sora "defending my honor" and challenged Roxas to a Lightsaber-stick fight... they are so lame I can't even joke about it. But they are still our dear friends. :]

iloveyou. -heart-  
Kairi~

From Namine Strife

To Kairi Lockheart  
Date Jun 17, 2009 at 9:42 PM

Subject -Mourns in Corner-

-Blink- Oh yeah, he kissed me alright. And, despite all of this, he doesn't like me. Ohhh, no. He made that _very _clear in Chemistry today. Anyways, I'll go into that later; I wanna hear more about your dad! :O IT'S DESTINY. You love fried shrimp, too! -Squeal- You should call him, Kairi. I'm sure if he knew you existed, then he'd want to be in your life. Tifa's as well. I bet your mom tried her hardest to keep him shut out or something. : /

Your Saturday was waaaay better than mine, despite your mom. Sunday was pretty boring as well; I did a total amount of nothing. Well, I did ask Cloud about Tifa. He merely shrugged--ouch--but was trying hard to conceal the blush on his face. Oh yeah, my brother has got it bad, 'gurl.

....The roof? Are they all retarded? THEY COULD HAVE DIED. OR SOMETHING ELSE. Ugh, and Tidus JUST got out of the hospital. I swear, that boy needs his brain examined or something. I'm positive he lost it.

On a worse note, Rinoa has been around a lot more lately. I swear, she is over at the apartment more than my own parents. God knows what the two of them do. All I know is that they are /never/ home. I dunno what I'm going to do without Cloud next year, but it won't be pretty. Ugh, not thinking about that yet.

My day today was pretttyyy bad. I'm typing you this email from the Starbucks computer during my break because, well, I need to vent. Pronto.

I woke up this morning with a groan, knowing that it was time for school. I hate school. Really, it interrupts my beauty sleep. I dragged myself out of bed and threw on a pair of white capris and a /light/ pink shirt. I KNOW. I'M WORE COLOR. In silence, Cloud and I ate breakfast and he--shutter--drove us to school. On the monstrosity. I seriously hate that motorcycle. This summer, you are going to help me while I dismember it. It's Zack's fault Cloud likes motorcycles in the first place. After getting to school and going to my locker, I suffered past math and happily drew in art. Sadly, my jovial morning was coming to a close. I had Chemistry next.

Chemistry had him in that class.

Him referring to Riku, that is.

Bravely, I swallowed and entered the room, acting like nothing happened. There he was, already sitting at our table. I quietly took my own seat and fiddled with my binder, not knowing what to say.

'Hello," I finally choked out, trying to contain the nearing blush on my features. Bah, I hate having pale skin! Either Riku took no notice of my blush or he simply ignored it because he merely gave me a nod in reply and started to write down the notes from the board.

Talk about cold.

"Uh," I tried again, pushing some hair off my face, "did you have fun Saturday, or...?"

Riku shrugged once more, "I guess so."

"Oh." I fell silent, not knowing why he was making things so awkward. I was trying to forget what happened Saturday, but.....well, he confused me. Greatly. "So, uh....." Here I went, "about....what happened Saturday....?"

His eyes darkened, "No. Not now, Namine." And he turned away from me, falling into his schoolwork. I just sat there, shell-shocked, and huffed, copying my own notes. We didn't talk for the rest of the class, and when the bell finally rang, I understood why he was star of the track team; he was gone in literally two seconds. Okay, so, I know I'm one to get emotional and all, but that seriously stung. I wanted to sit down with you, turn on Pride and Prejudice, and kinda...cry. With ice cream. Ugh, I should have known.

.....Wait a tick, he stole my first kiss! Freaking bastard.

Apparently, my mood stayed sour for the rest of the day because Pence, Olette, and Hayner just decided to stop attempting to see what was wrong with me. At last, the final bell rung, and I was free to leave. Cloud met me outside and drove me to Starbucks, where I reluctantly changed and waited for to show up. When he did, I decided to be assertive for once in my life. I walked over to him, my tiny form blocking his way. Angrily I glued my hands to my hips, and allowed my eyes to narrow.

"We need to talk. Now." Hah, I inwardly gave myself a pat on the back. I sounded pretty darn intimidating. ....Well, at least I thought I did. His posture stiffened a bit as he frowned, arms crossed.

"You want to talk? Fine, we'll talk. Saturday? Yeah, I don't know why I did it. I don't like you like that. We aren't even friends."

.......That hurt. A lot. I forced hot tears away from my tear ducts as I allowed my hands to fall lax, "Oh...right. Of course we're not friends. Why would I think you wanted one?" I turned, leaving him alone, and started my job.

And now I'm typing to you. Kairi, I miss you so much. I wish you were here; you'd know what to do. Ah, I've got to go. Another hour of work, and then Cloud picks me up.

I love you dearly.

Namine.

From Kairi Lockheart

To Namine Strife  
Date Jul 13, 2009 at 3:47 PM

Subject Huggle formation! -joins in corner and holds-

Namine. -heart-

What an asshole. Seriously. What the hell is his problem? -hugs- I'm sure he's lying, Namine. Why would he have done it? I don't think anybody can be that heartless. : / Bah. Baahaaad business, all this. Sometimes I wish everything would go back to the way it was when we were twelve, y'know?

TIDUS IS SO RIDICULOUSLY FOOLISH, IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY ANYMORE. Who's idea was it to paint Zack's car with Pro-Gay messages? Who's idea was it to set two pigs painted with the numbers 1 and 3 on their butts loose in the school last year? Who's idea was it to break into Axel's house and steal his hairgel? That pyromaniac almost burnt the whole town down, dammit. Next time you see him, you MUST talk some sense into him. I'm not getting through to him for some reason.

Ugh. Dx Yes. It's creepy how much we have in common... which is also a reason I'm scared. Namine, what if he doesn't like me? Or worse, I'm not what what he would expect of his daughter?  
Another problem... he lives far away. Like. Forty minutes in the car. (Forty minutes is long! xD Especially seeing as the farthest thing away is the hospital... which is like, fifteen minutes.) So I don't know how I could live with him and still go to school here. : /

UGH! Rinoa! That girl is giving us gray hairs. Dx She needs to find someone else. Maybe we should hook her up with Squall. Wait, what about Aerith? Wait, then we'll just hook Aerith up with Zack and your brother with Tifa. :D My plan is genius, MUA.  
-TACKLES- I MISS YOUUU.

There's a new girl at our school. Which is strange, because nobody in their right mind would ever move to Morrowind, right? Except for you, of course. xD Her name's Xion... pronounced "Shi-on" or something like that. She's got short black hair and prettyyyy blue eyes. She's really gorgeous, but she's kinda quiet and shy. Actually, I take that back -- you're kinda quiet and shy, she's awfully timid and bashful. The morning went as followed:  
"Would you be friends with me if..." Roxas paused. "If I held my head like _this_ whilst talking to you?" He cocked his head and brought it five inches forwards.  
"Yes," Sora said.  
"Yes," I said.  
"No," Tidus said.  
"What if... I looked like this whilst holding my head like this whilst talking to you?" His eyes doubled in size and he opened his mouth and let it drop to the side while his tongue started to dangle out.  
"No," I said, squeaming at the sight.  
"No," Tidus said lazily, supporting his head on his right arm.  
"Yes," Sora said.  
"Would you be friends with me if..." Tidus began. He raised his voice and made it high-pitched, "...if I talked like THIS?"  
"No," Roxas said.  
"Yes," Sora said.  
"...Yes," I said after hesitating a bit.  
"Would you be friends with me if I wore my clothes inside out?" Sora asked.  
"Yes," Roxas said.  
"Yes," I said.  
"No," Tidus said.  
"You say no to everything!" Sora said, exasperated. "Since when is your tolerance-level so freaking low?"  
Tidus rolled his eyes.  
"Since when is yours so high? At this rate, you wouldn't even notice it if Roxas has gone completely mental because you'd tolerate his drooling."  
"Would you be friends with me if..." I paused. Then I stood up to demonstrate. "...if I walked like _this_?" I started to do the pelvic thrust when Mr. Cision walked in.  
"Ms. Lockhart!"  
I froze, then slowly turned around. An impatient look was on Mr. Cision's face.  
"Do I _want_ to know?"  
For once, I found myself speechless. Behind me was stifled laughter. I walked back to my seat as the whole class stared at me. As soon as Mr. Cision turned away, I turned around and smacked Tidus in the back of the head for laughing at me.  
"Ow!" he said, but continued to laugh anyway like the madman he was.  
"Class, I would like to introduce you to a new student."  
He pushed forwards a shortish, thinnish, paleish girl with short black hair and blue eyes.  
"Wow, Kairi," Tidus said softly from behind me, "that girl looks a lot like you."  
"She does not," I immediately snapped. Mr. Cision searched the classroom for an empty seat. The only open seat was next to Tidus. Too close for my liking.  
"Xion, why don't you go sit next to Tidus," he said softly. "He's the blond kid behind the girl with red hair."  
Ughh.  
She located 'the girl with the red hair' and then the 'blond kid,' then wandered over towards us and sat down in the desk beside Tidus.  
"Hey, I'm Tidus." He extended his hand. "Where're you from?"  
She looked nervous. She apprehensively took his hand and shook it. "Uhm, Winnemac?"  
"That's a pretty big town. Morrowind's a lot smaller. Population is a little over four-hundred." He gave a small wave my way. "The one with the sour expression is Kairi. She's annoyed at me, so ignore her."  
"If you didn't act so annoying, I wouldn't have to be annoyed at you." I nodded at her.  
"Hi, Kairi," she said in her quiet voice. "I'm Xion?"  
"Hey, Xion. Welcome to Morrowind. Ignore this numbskull behind me. Not all of us are so stupid." I offered her a smile. She smiled shyly.  
"Miss Lockhart!" Mr. Cision suddenly snapped. My head spun around.  
"Yeah?"  
"Stop talking in my class!"  
I rolled my eyes.  
"And do not roll your eyes at me! I got enough of that from your sister and father, and I certainly don't need it from you!"  
He taught my father! How old is this guy?! I folded my arms and sank as low as I could in my chair as he muttered, "Bunch of troublemakers... source of my gray hair... youth nowadays..."  
Xion was in two of my other classes and we had her have lunch with the gang. She seems nice enough. Not that she could ever take your place... but it was nice to have a female friend other than Selphie.

Nothing exciting further happened... Sora tongued me today. :P It was nice, I guess, but I don't want to gross you out so I'll shut up :P

ILOVEYOUUUU  
Kairiiiiiiiiiii -heart-

From: NAMI! (556) 220 5773

To: Me (555) 803 4992

Kairi, it's Cloud. Listen, I don't want you to panic, but Namine and I got into an accident. She hit her head hard enough so that the helmet cracked. The doctors are trying to calm down the swelling in her brain by putting her in a medical coma. Please don't pull a Nami and try to hitch hike to her; she is out of critical condition already. I'll keep you posted.

Cloud.


End file.
